Jon Wiener at The Nation interviewed David Cay Johnston about the tax-cheating squatter in the White House. In addition to his work for various media, including The New York Times, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Johnston has written seven books, including The Making of Donald Trump, and more recently, It’s Even Worse Than You Think, What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America. He is the editor of dcreport.org. Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:
Jon Wiener: That special Sunday section of The New York Times had 14,000 words, 11 pages of text and documentation, reporting on what they called “suspect tax schemes” that helped preserve what they called “a vast inherited fortune”—real estate and cash that Donald Trump got from his father, Fred. What do you consider their most important findings?
David Cay Johnston: It’s the most extraordinary thing: The New York Times said that the sitting president of the United States engaged in “outright fraud.” From the documents, the 100,000-plus pages of mostly private Trump family documents, backed up by various public records, and interviews and other work they’ve done, two things can be said: Donald Trump in particular, and the Trump family as a whole, are criminal tax cheats. They won’t ever be indicted for the crimes the Times described, because the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution is only six years, and the Times covers a half-century from the 1950s to the turn of the century. They can be prosecuted for civil fraud for every single dollar, and Donald has already had two civil tax-fraud trials. He lost both of them.
Secondly, Donald Trump’s claim that he is a self-made man, and that he’s worth $10 billion—these claims are complete and utter nonsense. They’ve been demolished now by the Times. That second story, however, isn’t getting through. Forbes magazine just came out saying Donald Trump’s wealth has fallen from four billion dollars to three billion, and every day on TV and on the radio, I hear news people talking about “the billionaire president.” But there is not now, nor has there ever been, a scintilla of verifiable evidence that Trump has a billion-dollar net worth. During the campaign he told us all he was worth more than $10 billion. I kept saying, that’s nonsense, it’s not true.
JW: What’s the evidence here?
DCJ: Once he became president, Trump had to file his financial-disclosure form. As I report in It’s Even Worse Than You Think, his lawyers asked to file that statement without signing it under penalty of perjury. The Office of Government Ethics said “No. You have to sign that statement.” Everybody has to sign, under penalty of perjury. So he did. The statement shows a net worth not of $10 billion, but of $1.4 billion. What more do you need to know to understand that Trump just makes this stuff up? And even the $1.4 billion is not to be believed. For example, he says his two Scottish golf courses are each worth more than $50 million. But we just got their new financial reports. Yet again, for another year, they’ve lost millions of dollars. They’re not worth $50 million. They may be literally worthless, except for the real-estate value—if you get permission to redevelop them. His businesses are losing money all over the place. And the rules for the presidential disclosure do not require Trump to disclose all sorts of loans that he is obligated for. If we had a real net worth statement on Donald Trump, it would probably show he’s worth a few hundred million dollars. That’s all. [...]
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“They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned....They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features....They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane....They would make fine servants....With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. … They are so naïve and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed it would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone … As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island I found, I took some natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.”
~~Christopher Columbus, Captain’s Log, October 12, 1492
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On this date at Daily Kos in 2012—Auto workers reach tentative deal with Chrysler:
The UAW and Chrysler have announced a tentative contract deal. As expected, Chrysler workers make fewer gains than GM or Ford workers did in their recently announced agreements, given Chrysler's relatively weaker profits. The UAW has made it a priority to secure commitments from the auto manufacturers to invest in American manufacturing and jobs, though, and Chrysler did agree to invest $4.5 billion and create around 2,100 new jobs in America, including new compact vehicles to be manufactured in Illinois and Michigan. All of these new jobs, though, will be at the second-tier pay rate, currently $14.65 an hour but rising to $19.28 through the four-year life of the contract; a cap on the percentage of second-tier workers Chrysler can employ would be eliminated under this contract, with Chrysler already employing a higher proportion of the lower-wage workers than GM or Ford.
The deal, which must be ratified by workers, also includes:
$3,500 signing bonus, with half to be paid up-front and half to be paid at a later date when Chrysler reaches certain financial targets.
• Inflation protection bonus of $500 each year over the four-year contract for a total of $2,000 over the life of the contract. This is less than the $3,000 GM workers received for a similar bonus in their contract and the $6,000 Ford workers could gain from their contract.
• $500 annual quality bonus.
Additionally, "The tentative agreement returns to workers the Tuition Assistance Program they gave up during the economic downturn."
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: An ALL-NEW episode today. Trump's latest, loopy Oval Office interview. China's hi-tech hacking is a nightmare come true. The Khashoggi timeline darkens still further. A Very Serious Person convinces herself on Trump-Russia.
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