The Times reported that much of that fortune came to Trump because he helped his parents evade taxes, setting up a fake corporation with his siblings to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promoted himself as a self-made real estate mogul who started out with only a "very small" loan from his businessman father, Fred Trump.

The Times reported that much of that fortune came to Trump because he helped his parents evade taxes, setting up a fake corporation with his siblings to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents. During his presidential campaign, Trump promoted himself as a self-made real estate mogul who started out with only a "very small" loan from his businessman father, Fred Trump.

Trump lies a majority of the time, so why are people surprised that he lied about this? I am more surprised at the very few times when he tells the truth. 

Another tidbit is the apparent elder abuse when Fred Trump's Alzheimer's was first detected.....Donald tried to seize complete control of the family empire through illicit means.   Turns out Donald is a greedy sociopath even within his own family:

Fred Trump had given careful thought to what would become of his empire after he died, and had hired one of the nation’s top estate lawyers to draft his will. But in December 1990, Donald Trump sent his father a document, drafted by one of his own lawyers, that sought to make significant changes to that will.

Fred Trump, then 85, had never before set eyes on the document, 12 pages of dense legalese. Nor had he authorized its preparation. Nor had he met the lawyer who drafted it.

Yet his son sent instructions that he needed to sign it immediately.

What happened next was described years later in sworn depositions by members of the Trump family during a dispute, later settled, over the inheritance Fred Trump left to Fred Jr.’s children. These depositions, obtained by The Times, reveal something startling: Fred Trump believed that the document potentially put his life’s work at risk.

The document, known as a codicil,    did many things. It protected Donald Trump’s portion of the inheritance from his creditors and from his impending divorce settlement with his first wife, Ivana Trump. It strengthened provisions in the existing will making him the sole executor of his father’s estate. But more than any of the particulars, it was the entirety of the codicil and its presentation as a fait accompli that alarmed Fred Trump, the depositions show. He confided to family members that he viewed the codicil as an attempt to go behind his back and give his son total control over his affairs. He said he feared that it could let Donald Trump denude his empire, even using it as collateral to rescue his failing businesses. (It was, in fact, the very month of the $3.5 million casino rescue.)

As close as they were — or perhaps because they were so close — Fred Trump did not immediately confront his son. Instead he turned to his daughter Maryanne Trump Barry, then a federal judge whom he often consulted on legal matters. “This doesn’t pass the smell test,” he told her, she recalled during her deposition. When Judge Barry read the codicil, she reached the same conclusion. “Donald was in precarious financial straits by his own admission,” she said, “and Dad was very concerned as a man who worked hard for his money and never wanted any of it to leave the family.” (In a brief telephone interview, Judge Barry declined to comment.)

Fred Trump took prompt action to thwart his son. He dispatched his daughter to find new estate lawyers. One of them took notes on the instructions she passed on from her father: “Protect assets from DJT, Donald’s creditors.” The lawyers quickly drafted a new codicil stripping Donald Trump of sole control over his father’s estate. Fred Trump signed it immediately.

Clumsy as it was, Donald Trump’s failed attempt to change his father’s will brought a family reckoning about two related issues: Fred Trump’s declining health and his reluctance to relinquish ownership of his empire. Surgeons had removed a neck tumor a few years earlier, and he would soon endure hip replacement surgery and be found to have mild senile dementia. Yet for all the financial support he had lavished on his children, for all his abhorrence of taxes, Fred Trump had stubbornly resisted his advisers’ recommendations to transfer ownership of his empire to the children to minimize estate taxes.

And then there's the way Scumbag tried to screw his elder brother, Fred Jr., out of his inheritance even to the point of stopping payments for his critically ill infant nephew.  

James Gazzale, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, said the department "is reviewing the allegations in the New York Times article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation."

Citing tax experts, the Times reported it was unlikely Trump would face criminal prosecution because the acts were past the statute of limitations. There is no time limit, however, on civil fines for tax fraud, according to the paper.

The Times reported that its findings were based on more than 200 tax returns from Fred Trump, his companies and various Trump partnerships and trusts. The records did not include Donald Trump's personal tax returns. Unlike other White House candidates and presidents in recent decades, Trump has declined to release his tax returns.

the Times reported it was unlikely Trump would face criminal prosecution because the acts were past the statute of limitations.

Remember all those times he said he was going to run for president but then didn't? Maybe this is why he waited until 2015 to run. The statute of limitations was up.

Trump has declined to release his tax returns.

No worries.  Mueller has 'em.  

I seeded this story in another article here three hours ago and it has not gotten a single comment. 

The nation's leading paper reveals the results of a 6 month long investigation of hundreds of thousands of documents, which indicates that the president of the United States participated in tax evasion and tax fraud to the tune of a couple hundred million dollars in taxes that were evaded by chicanery, lying and fraud, and the story gets no response (so far) on Newstalkers. 

That is pretty amazing. I have also noticed that even though major news outlets are reporting it, there isnt the shocked outrage you might expect. 

So there it is, Trump has so lowered the bar (it is almost underground by now) for presidential behavior that it is revealed that he is very likely an actual crook, and the response is "muted". 

I hate to say it but I think something very bad is coming closer and closer to America. Some sort of societal breakdown. 

I hate to say it but I think something very bad is coming closer and closer to America. Some sort of societal breakdown. 

Nah, we're just reverting to the golden age of the robber barons.

The only difference between then and now is back then the common man wasn't so dumb as to think it was a good idea.

The only difference between then and now is back then the common man wasn't so dumb as to think it was a good idea.

Another difference is there are probably 3 times as many of us to be hoodwinked now. That should make it slightly more difficult. 

But I also fear you are correct the common mans vote is easier to buy because more people have more money to buy politicians. What is it now $328.000.00 we each can legally donate. Who do ya think really matters to the politicians now ?  one vote or $328.000.00 bucks to buy many more than one. 

Yep we're screwed !

It's not even a question of buying votes or buying politicians.   Somehow Trump and the GOP in general have convinced the common man that tax cuts for oligarchs are in their interest.

Somehow Trump and the GOP in general have convinced the common man that tax cuts for oligarchs are in their interest.

Maybe its in the music;

Or in the drink;

I seeded this story in another article here three hours ago and it has not gotten a single comment. 

Oh you poor dear... Well, if its any consolation...my thoughts and prayers go out to you!

All I want to know is whether the Trump ever paid taxes to at least keep the lawns mowed and cared for at Arlington National Cemetery?

I wager the lying, cheating, fraud didn't.

And then the 'embezzled Russian oligarch' money enters the picture.

Will Melania return or seek asylum in Slovenia? 

NY and NYC are now investigating:

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance says it is reviewing allegations made in a New York Times article about questionable tax schemes used by now-President Donald Trump in the 1990s.

"The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation," James Gazzale, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, said in an email to NBC News.

The Times reported that Trump received the equivalent of $413 million in today’s dollars from the real estate empire of his father, Fred Trump, and the Times reported that “much of this money came to Mr. Trump because he helped his parents dodge taxes.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, tweeted Tuesday night : "I’ve directed NYC’s Department of Finance to immediately investigate tax and housing violations and to work with NY State to find out if appropriate taxes were paid."

Trump refused to the release his tax returns in the run up to the 2016 presidential election or after being elected, breaking with tradition.

nbcnews

Trump is a crook?

Oh!

Evidently, when he was 3 years old!   Amazing!

Evidently, when he was 3 years old!   Amazing!

Try reading the actual article. 

I have read it. I wonder if the general public will read it since the New York Times has totally destroyed their credibility in their quest to attack and defeat Trump.

I wonder if the general public will read it since the New York Times has totally destroyed their credibility in their quest to attack and defeat Trump.

Yep, it is trending everywhere.

since the New York Times has totally destroyed their credibility

Which part of the story do you believe is false or lacks credibility? Or are you just choosing to dismiss the messenger because you're unable to refute the message?

Wrong again.

New York Times reveals that its bombshell story on Trump's wealth was made possible by a document his sister submitted to the Senate years ago

businessinsider

Shocking.....NOT

Well so much for the self made man mythology, might as well strike down the successful businessman notion while we're at it.

Sorry folks, but Mr. Trump snookered you the same as many others over the past forty years or so. All you had to do was look, it was there all along and there will be more coming without a doubt.

Well so much for the self made man mythology, might as well strike down the successful businessman notion while we're at it.

Oh it was never believable. Every shred of evidence showed that all his success is due to his father.

Donald Trump   has, for decades, attempted to portray himself as a self-made, up-by-your-bootstraps entrepreneur who benefited little from his father’s fortune, relying on his own gumption and wiles to overcome financial challenges.

But a bombshell investigation   by The New York Times   published Tuesday annihilated this claim.

The Times, citing hundreds of confidential tax returns and financial records, reported that Trump received over $400 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing today. And, to bail out his failing businesses, Trump borrowed tens of millions of dollars from his dad and relied on the elder Trump ― who was   one of the richest people in America   in the 1970s, according to the paper. 

yahoo

ONCE a LIAR ALWAYS a LIAR

I am going out for lunch-- so this discussion is now locked.

Looks like Trump's sister might be in hot water too despite the fact that she's effectively retired from the federal judiciary:

Beyond the question of whether Judge Barry knowingly participated in an attempt to defraud the U.S. government of tax revenue, the report alleges specifically that Barry offered legal advice to her father. According to the Code of Conduct for federal judges, "A judge should not practice law and should not serve as a family member's lawyer in any forum. A judge may, however…without compensation, give legal advice to…a member of the judge's family."

The question is: Was that advice "without compensation"? That would require a careful analysis of the tax and business records. If she were actively involved at business meetings, it might tend to suggest that there was compensation.

At worst, all Trump siblings were involved in what the Times calls "fraudulent" tax practices. If so, and if Barry was knowingly participating, she could be impeached. (That is unlikely to happen as long as Republicans control the House, but if Democrats take over, it is a political possibility.)

But there is little concrete guidance on what is an impeachable offense for a judge. With Barry, the situation is not clear — including an important preliminary issue: Whether a senior, inactive judge is even still a "judge" for purposes of impeachment.

nbcnews

Is anyone in the least bit surprised? Just given what is publicly known about him, he is one shady motherfucker. The fact that he refused to release his tax returns was a gigantic red flag. 

Isn't it great when kids help their parents ?

You don't see that much anymore.

With help like that, who needs thieves and con artists?

Family ALWAYS comes FIRST !