Speaking on YouTube today, Jimmy Dore, of "The Jimmy Dore Show," spoke about Rachel Maddow's "scoop," where she was given access to copies of President Donald Trump's 2005 IRS Form 1040 to publish. Mr. Dore questioned why Rachel Maddow would be given such a scoop, and pointed to reporting by Jen Froderman with American News X. More than one observer has commented on the possibility that President Trump was responsible for sending the return to Ms. Maddow's source, David Cay Johnston.
Ms. Froderman pointed to the fact that, in 2005, Donald Trump was "filing jointly with a woman who would not get naturalized as a citizen if she had blemished tax papers." Jimmy Dore noted that Trump's entire return from 2005 was not made public, only the "top two pages." For the year, the 2005 return shows Trump paying "nearly a fair share" of taxes.
The 2005 return was characterized as being "so different" from the one other tax return previously made public.
2005, 1995 returns paint vastly different financial pictures
The other Donald Trump tax return that is available is from 1995, which The New York Times reports included a $916 million loss that allowed the president to "legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years." In the 2005 return, Trump paid about $38 million in taxes, which Dore characterized as a "fair share." Is it a coincidence that Donald Trump's 2005 record makes him looks so good; that 2005 was the one year he had to make public, and share with the federal government; and that 2005 is now the tax return that has been published by Rachel Maddow?
Jimmy Dore stated that Donald Trump was aware that the federal government "would be taking a good look" at his tax return in 2005. Had any problems been detected, it could have jeopardized Melania's chances of becoming naturalized, which did happen in 2006, "freeing them from that requirement."
2005 Trump taxes already examined by federal government
Froderman noted that the copy of the Trump tax return published by Rachel Maddow was stamped "client copy," which indicates to her that it came from the president's "inner circle," and was used "as part of a loan application or stolen." The writer also allowed for the possibility that President Trump may have mailed David Cay Johnston, the journalist who received the Trump 2005 1040, himself.
Dore observed that the tax return could have passed through Trump's "tiny little hands."
Ms. Froderman wrote that 2005 was the one year "you can guarantee" that Donald Trump would have taken measures to ensure his return was in order, "shown a profit, and paid taxes." She stated that 2005 was likely the "most meticulous, by the book year, on record" for the president, and elaborated that Donald Trump could put the issue to rest by "releasing all the years since 2005 up," leaving out those years he claims are still being audited.
