Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies
Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump’s businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender — and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings’ property tax.
For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.
Lenders like to see a rising occupancy level as a sign of what they call “leasing momentum.” Sure enough, the company told a lender that 40 Wall Street had been 58.9% leased on Dec. 31, 2012, and then rose to 95% a few years later. The company told tax officials the building was 81% rented as of Jan. 5, 2013.
A dozen real estate professionals told ProPublica they saw no clear explanation for multiple inconsistencies in the documents. The discrepancies are “versions of fraud,” said Nancy Wallace, a professor of finance and real estate at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley. “This kind of stuff is not OK.”
New York City’s property tax forms state that the person signing them “affirms the truth of the statements made” and that “false filings are subject to all applicable civil and criminal penalties.”
The punishments for lying to tax officials, or to lenders, can be significant, ranging from fines to criminal fraud charges. Two former Trump associates, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort, are serving prison time for offenses that include falsifying tax and bank records, some of them related to real estate.
“Certainly, if I were sitting in a prosecutor’s office, I would want to ask a lot more questions,” said Anne Milgram, a former attorney general for New Jersey who is now a professor at New York University School of Law.
Trump has previously been accused of manipulating numbers on his tax and loan documents, including by his former lawyer, Cohen. But Trump’s business is notoriously opaque, with records rarely surfacing, and up till now there’s been little documentary evidence supporting those claims.
Me: Can anyone be surprised by the fact that the Pretender was and is a cheat?
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Trump calls Dem candidates 'clowns,' claims none can defeat him in 2020
President Trump asserted in an early morning tweet on Wednesday that none of the Democratic presidential contenders could defeat him in the 2020 general election and that House Democrats are trying to "illegally" impeach him as a result.
"You would think there is NO WAY that any of the Democrat Candidates that we witnessed last night could possibly become President of the United States. Now you see why they have no choice but to push a totally illegal & absurd Impeachment of one of the most successful Presidents!" Trump tweeted.
Trump later called the Democratic candidates "clowns" and claimed the economy would crash if any of them were elected next year.
Trump's messages marked his first reaction to the fourth Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night, during which many of the candidates trained their attacks on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has been rising in the polls.
Trump has lashed out at House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, claiming his political opponents are seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has taken aim at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top congressional Democrats in addition to his potential 2020 opponents during official White House events, campaign rallies and on Twitter.
Meanwhile, some recent polls have shown Warren or former Vice President Joe Biden defeating Trump in hypothetical general election matchups.
Trump has lashed out at House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, claiming his political opponents are seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has taken aim at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top congressional Democrats in addition to his potential 2020 opponents during official White House events, campaign rallies and on Twitter.
Meanwhile, some recent polls have shown Warren or former Vice President Joe Biden defeating Trump in hypothetical general election matchups.
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