~George H. W. Bush,
Former POTUS and famous Hillary Clinton supporter
In my previous post, "Fear and Loathing in the Media", I referred to the media, owing to sheer desperation, is pulling out all the stops and that, in resorting to their precedence-setting endorsements of Clinton over Trump by such hapless rags as the Arizona Re-Pubic and the Dallas Morning Phallus and that probably constitutes the last "civilized" weapon in their arsenal.
Well, it seems this desperation has caused the media to transgress the bounds of civilized and wander into lawless Territory with the New York Times illegally purloining and releasing portions of DJT's 1995 tax returns:
From the BB article (emphasis added)
“The only news here is that the more than 20-year-old alleged tax document was illegally obtained, a further demonstration that the New York Times, like establishment media in general, is an extension of the Clinton Campaign, the Democratic Party and their global special interests,” the Trump campaign said in a statement about the publishing of the documents. “What is happening now with the FBI and DOJ on Hillary Clinton’s emails and illegal server, including her many lies and her lies to Congress are worse than what took place in the administration of Richard Nixon – and far more illegal.”
The news comes just a few weeks after in early September the New York Times’ executive editor Dean Baquet said he would go to jail to print Trump’s tax returns, even if he obtained them illegally.
“Dean Baquet, the top editor at the New York Times, said he’d publish a story on Donald Trump’s taxes even if it means risking jail time,” CNN Money’s Chris Isidore reported back on Sept. 12. “He made the remark during a Harvard University forum Sunday, when he was asked about the legal risks tied to publishing a leaked or hacked copy of Trump’s taxes.”
“I think every journalist on the planet wants Donald Trump’s tax returns,” Laura Poitras, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker who made a documentary about leaker Edward Snowden, told Baquet and Washington Post editor Bob Woodward at the event.
But, according to Isidore, Poitras told both Baquet and Woodward “that the lawyers for their newspapers would probably warn them that they’d face jail time for publishing such information.”
Baquet told her he would publish the tax documents even if he illegally obtained them because Trump is, in his words, “a presidential candidate whose whole campaign is built on his success as a business man, and his wealth.”
Woodward also said he would go to jail too over it.
“Some things you have to do. Dean is exactly right. This defines Donald Trump,” Woodward said.
Well, editorially I just have to say that they throw all of these assholes in the Greybar Hotel with three hots and a cot for a nice long stay. However, this may ironically be their downfall as the blowback was immediate and piquant. Drudge ran this, pointing out the NYT's own dalliance with the federal tax codes and resultant liabilities:
And the meme broke all over the internet and spread out in many different directions -- chief among them the mantra that other companies in addition to the NYT have practiced this evil.
A shocker from USA Today (they of the exceptional "Stop Trump" endorsement) comes in a May 2015 article cite 27 companies who have availed themselves:
But, given that The Donald was in a $900 million hole in 1995, there was an interesting article in a 1996 Fortune magazine about how he pulled himself out of this hole (as many other firms have not) owing to his prowess as a business man in addition to being a showman:
(FORTUNE Magazine) – In the black days of 1991, Donald Trump often strolled with his finance chief, Stephen Bollenbach, from the peach marble atrium of Trump Tower to lunch at another Trump trophy, New York's fabled Plaza Hotel. At the time, Trump wallowed in so much debt that angry bankers threatened to grab not only the Tower and the Plaza but everything else, from the Atlantic City casinos to his Piaget watches. Spotting a panhandler huddled in front of the Plaza, the usually blustering Trump turned uncharacteristically wistful. "That bum isn't worth a dime, but at least he's at zero," sighed The Donald. "That puts him $900 million ahead of me."
Five years after his spectacular, seemingly fatal fall, Trump has staged an even more stunning revival. His rebound vehicle is Atlantic City, now the hottest address in gambling, with Circus Circus, ITT, Mirage, and others clamoring to get in. The seaside resort rakes in $3.7 billion a year from gaming, 20% more than the Las Vegas Strip, and Trump pockets no less than 30% of those winnings, or about $1.2 billion a year. In addition, with $375 million worth of shares in Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts and trophy properties like the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, Trump has masterfully--and quickly--catapulted himself from that infamous $900 million black hole to a net worth of at least $700 million (see chart).
Trump's comeback proves once and for all that behind his gaudy--and many would say obnoxious--showman's facade lies a bit of business genius. No, this isn't Warren Buffett. But for those who have witnessed other giants--the Reichmanns and Robert Campeau--fall into deep financial trouble and never really recover, Trump's return is something to marvel at. "I didn't think anyone could do it," says Bollenbach. "I know of no other case of someone going from almost a billion down to over half a billion in net worth."
There are other segues developing that will be added to this post (hopefully) but, for now, it seems the media and Clintoon may have bitten off more than they can chew when discussing taxes and legal tax calculations versus publishing stolen tax returns and other nefarious activities.
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