Trump Campaign: ‘New York Times’ Tax Documents ‘Illegally Obtained’
Over the weekend, The New York Times published three pages of three separate tax returns filed by Donald Trump in 1995 that showed he reported a substantial loss of income.
Those documents, however, were obtained illegally, according to Trump’s presidential campaign. In a statement released shortly after the article was published, the campaign said it demonstrated “establishment media in general is an extension of the Clinton Campaign, the Democratic Party and their global special interests.”
“What is happening now with the FBI and DOJ on Hillary Clinton’s emails and illegal server, including her many lies and her lies to Congress are worse than what took place in the administration of Richard Nixon—and far more illegal,” the statement read. “Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.
“That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions. Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for president and he is the only one that knows how to fix it.
“The incredible skills Mr. Trump has shown in building his business are the skills we need to rebuild this country. Hillary Clinton is a corrupt public official who violated federal law. Donald Trump is an extraordinarily successful private businessman who followed the law and created tens of thousands of jobs for Americans.”
Last month, The Times‘ executive editor, Dean Baquet, said he would risk going to jail to publish Trump’s tax returns. Federal law prohibits disclosing even a portion of a tax return without permission—it is punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.
The returns that were published by The Times, however, were state returns from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In New York, the unauthorized publication of tax return information is punishable by up to one year in jail and $10,000 in fines. In New Jersey, it’s 18 months in jail.
The Times stated the returns were received by mail anonymously after Baquet’s comments.
