First, this clearly shows that the Times doesn't know or care about how to time a story. Really, fellas? Now? You couldn't wait until the lull between "Brett's" confirmation and Trump firing Rosenstein? That window would have been my choice, but hey, maybe this is why you are "failing," right?
Oh, never mind. My real first reaction is... this is news? So, Trump's father funneled money illegally to Donny, and they hid it from the IRS, and that's how he got his money, because Trump doesn't know shit about running a business, and never did. Um... didn't we know this already? OK, the details are new, but the story itself was something we already knew. Those of us with a brain, anyway. At this point, I return to one of my favorite analogies. Two scams.
The first is Mr. Wednesday's favorite scam from the book version of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. This requires two participants. Get yourself a bunch of crisp, new $100 bills. Put some subtle ink smudges on them, the color of the printing ink, to make them look like great counterfeit bills, even though they are real. Go to a jewelry store. Try to buy something expensive with the bills. The jeweler will insist on having the bills checked by a bank. The bills will check out because they are real, and the jeweler will be told that new bills will occasionally have that bit of smudge. Don't worry. The bills are real. They return to the store, and the transaction is completed. Shortly thereafter, your accomplice goes to the store, under the guise of being a cop, with you in tow. The cop says you are a counterfeiter, and asks for the transaction records. He confiscates the bills, takes a statement, and says he'll keep the jewelry as evidence for now, but will return it after processing. You and your accomplice leave with the real money and the real jewelry. Cool scam, right?
The thing about this is that you can fall for it without being a complete fucking moron. Yeah, there are holes in it, and an astute person should catch it, but falling for it doesn't make you the absolute, dumbest motherfucker in history. Then, there's the Nigerian Prince email scam. Not only do you have to be an idiot to fall for it, you have to be, as Londo Mollari put it, "heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots."
Donald Trump is the guy running the Nigerian Prince email scam. You have to be brain-dead not to see through him. We don't have royalty in this country, but given how many heirs we have to that throne Londo referenced, any return to the monarchy here would lead to bloody civil war. People actually believe that guy's shit, and made him President.
Trump's fraud, and specifically, his tax fraud have been obvious all along. You don't go to these lengths to hide your taxes unless you have something big to hide. In other words, this isn't news. However, Americans really are too stupid to see what is in front of them, or to care.
You will never see a single complete tax return from Trump. Ever. Democrats could retake Congress and try to pass a law, or even subpoena them. He wouldn't comply. Who'd make him? States could require disclosure for ballot access. He wouldn't comply. Who'd make him? What about the potential for documents leaking from the IRS? Not likely.
The only way anything gets leaked is if Trump pisses off Putin so much that Putin starts leaking Trump's taxes. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Putin has some of those documents, and that's what the Russians have on him. I've written this before, and I still think it is a highly plausible means of control for Trump. It still isn't likely that the trigger gets pulled, but Trump is terrified of anyone ever seeing his taxes. That's been clear for years.
So, no, this isn't news. And no, you'll never see a single Trump tax return. And no, the New York Times report won't do anything. The American people are the idiots who sent the Nigerian Prince their bank account information. Almost literally. Trump can freeze your bank account, if he wants.
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