Donald Trump and his campaign have responded to leaked pages of his 1995 tax returns, arguing it shows that the Republican presidential candidate understands tax laws very well and is therefore equipped to change them if elected president.
The New York Times published 3 pages of Trump’s tax returns that show the presidential candidate “declared a $916 million loss” in 1995, which the paper claims “could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.”
When asked about the New York Times report, former New York City Mayor and one of Trump’s top advisers, Rudy Giuliani said that it was “genius.”
“My response is he’s a genius,” Rudy Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
“Absolute genius,” the former New York mayor continued. “I mean, the man in ‘The Art of the Deal,’ this is described. First of all, we’re talking about 26 years ago, perfectly legal. We should get that straight immediately. This is a perfectly legal application of the tax code. And he would’ve been fool not to take advantage of it.”
Neither Donald Trump nor his surrogates have confirmed or denied that the findings in the reports are true.
In first presidential debate at Hofstra University, Trump interjected as Clinton was questioning whether or not he pays any federal income tax with the statement “that makes me smart.”
Dean Baquet, the executive editor at the New York Times, said at a Harvard University forum in early September that he'd would be willing to risk jail time to run a story on Donald Trump’s taxes.
Friends Read Free