Ok. This might amount to something.
“N.Y. tax agency weighs probe after report that Trump family built wealth through tax-avoidance schemes and fraud”
I think that particular ad mentions it was paid for by “The Senate Leadership”. The ad her opponent has in heavy rotation emphasizes that McCaskill has “gone Washington”, which is even worse since (1) Washington currently is Republicans (President + Congress), so why are they implying that is a bad thing? and (2) anyone who is at all familiar with Hawley’s career is going to be aware that he desperately wants to “go Washington” himself so that he can rake in those millions.
However, it’s Trump country as you note, so the local yokels just aren’t that capable of comprehension to realize this.
But the statute of limitations has passed on any charges of tax evasion, so all we’re left with is the public’s reaction to his misdeeds, and as we’ve been seeing for the last three years, his supporters just don’t give a shit, and there are enough of them that the Republicans in Congress are scared of them.
I used to say “this one has to be it - no one could support him after this,” but he just continues on again and again. I don’t say that anymore.
During the campaign he did claim he could publicly shoot somebody and his base would still support him. It was one of the few of his statements I thought was credible and on point.
There are a few abhorrent things he could maybe do to lose support. I imagine the public raping of a baby or revelation of a longstanding gay relationship would do it but even then the evidence would have to be airtight or his adoring throngs would simply claim videos were faked and witnesses lying. Even in the case of absolute evidence, many would simply deny it. So probably not even then.
The solution that will ultimately work is he leaves office. Bush 43’s public popularity even with his base fell drastically within a year of leaving office, despite many (including some on this board) claiming he’d be remembered as one of the US’s greatest Presidents. Absent the Rapture or some other earth shattering event, I imagine much the same will happen with Trump and they’ll simply move onto their next imagined savior and a good number may even publicly admit that maybe he wasn’t the greatest President ever.
Yes, yes, and sadly, yes.
And we have this to look forward to: second verse same as the first, only worse.
Wow. He is going to be *so *disappointed when he starts losing primaries to Jeff Flake.
Probably this, I imagine:
Have they? Darn, I was hoping the criminal activity extended to recent history or, better yet, was demonstrably ongoing.
I’m sure it is! Let’s hope those looking into it dig deep.
I can’t imagine a tax-evader of his magnitude suddenly saw the error of his ways and stopped his financial criminality between the 90s and now. Organized crime bosses don’t just clean up their acts and go straight one day.
It is difficult to believe that the government puts such a short time on tax evasion.
I would bet the really high-end tax evaders have good lobbyists.
Everything he has or ever had, he was handed by Daddy and/or the Russians. And he burned through a fair piece of all that because he is such a LOUSY SHITTY INCOMPETENT “businessman”.
They’re part of the Clinton/Obama globalist deep state. Hail Hydra.
I doubt he suddenly decided to just STOP all of a sudden one day. Like his phony “charities” and whatever money he raked/rakes off the political handouts he keeps getting and his Emoluments money.
I was very happy to see a McCaskill ad reprising Hawley’s ladder commercial about people just using one office to get to another. And here he is, not even two years later, running for a higher office. It won’t bother the solid R supporters, but hopefully it will affect a few waverers.
“That wasn’t mockery!” - Sarah the Huckster
I don’t think he even tries to be a good businessman; he tries to buy assets (real estate) and tries to generate cash. But he burned through probably the vast majority of his family’s fortune. He was just fortunate that banks saw enough value in the Trump brand to convince themselves not to completely liquidate. He generates cash because he knows how to draw attention to himself. He knows people love a good spectacle.
The Russians (and perhaps Deutsche Bank) have him now. DB was one of the few banks that would actually do business with him, and one can only speculate as to why they’d agree to do that.
Hey, he needs that Emoluments money. According to Forbes (link is from CNN), it turns out presidentin’ isn’t near so lucrative as he’d thought.
While on the topic of Puke’s money, anyone ever heard anything about whether he’s paid any part of the $25 million Trump University settlement? [The lawsuit webpage](http://www.trumpuniversity litigation.com) hasn’t been updated in quite a while, and is still pretty much saying that people should be patient, they’ll get their money.
The report in the NYT was based on old documents, namely his dad’s tax returns (I don’t know how they got those) and associated documents from businesses. The writers of the report have said that if they had access to his recent tax returns, there would be much more work to be done.
So let me modify my earlier statement: the statute of limitations has expired on the particular cases of fraud outlined in the report. But it does seem like a competent tax fraud prosecutor could take the old info to justify looking into his more recent tax returns, and therefore find misdeeds that the statute of limitations hasn’t expired on.