TRUMP CORRUPTION INDEX
This Week in Trumpland Corruption: A Tax Shelter From the Storm
This week saw more drama over John Bolton’s book and a stunning first look at Trump’s tax avoidance schemes
Is there enough graft, double-dealing, and self-interested chicanery in the Trump administration to publish this column every week? Only time — and Trump — will tell. (But we feel pretty confident.) Presenting this week’s installment of the Trump Corruption Index.
Our Tax-Evader-in-Chief
Among the revelations published by New York Times Sunday in its exhaustive investigation into President Trump’s tax returns: In 2016 and 2017 — the year he won the presidency and his first year in the White House — Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes. For comparison, Barack Obama and George W. Bush each regularly paid over $100,000 in annual federal income taxes while they were in office. In addition, Trump has received a windfall since entering office from foreign officials, politicians, and lobbyists who have stayed at his properties or become members of his clubs. Mar-a-Lago, for example, saw its profits rise from $664,000 in 2014 to just shy of $6 million in 2016.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible five emojis)…
