By Tom Philpott:
Throughout Donald Trump's campaign, he and his proxies consistently expressed hostility to government regulation, particularly of the fossil fuel and agriculture industries. Within days of taking over, the Trump administration has already put a squeeze on the two agencies that most directly regulate Big Energy and Big Ag, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture.
At the EPA, the administration has ordered that "all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately," ProPublica writers Andrew Revkin and Jesse Eisinger report, quoting an internal EPA email they obtained. Myron Ebell, the climate change denier who led the Trump team's EPA transition and directs the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, confirmed the suspension, Revkin and Eisenger report.
That's potentially a massive blow to the agency's core functions, says Patty Lovera, assistant director of the environmental watchdog group Food & Water Watch. "The EPA's not necessarily out there running a bulldozer to clean up a toxic site," she says. Superfund, an EPA program responsible for cleaning up the nation's most contaminated land, is executed through contracts, she said. The EPA turns to contractors for "tons of water stuff, too"—from monitoring water quality downstream from polluters to helping municipalities update water infrastructure to avoid toxins.
"It's one thing to put a pause on new contracts so they can be reviewed, but to reach back and stop existing ones is a whole other can of worms," Lovera said.
In Flint, Michigan, where lead contamination has led to the nation's most notorious drinking-water catastrophe in years, the announcement brought uncertainty and confusion. "State officials are seeking more information on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency freeze on grants and contracts and what it could mean to $100 million in federal funds already appropriated for the Flint water crisis," the news site MLive.com reported Tuesday. In statement quoted by MLive.com, the press secretary for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder noted that "we haven't received any guidance from the federal government" about the EPA's funding to address the Flint crisis.
Andrew Rosenberg, who directs the Center for Science and Democracy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, adds research to the list. The agency funds crucial environmental science through contracts with outside scientists, and interruptions to their funding can be devastating, he said. He likened the situation to the government shutdown of 2013, which temporarily blocked research funding throughout the federal government, including the EPA.
The Full Story (January 24, 2017)
Showing posts with label motherjones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motherjones. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Mother Jones: Senate Intelligence Committee Member Suggests FBI Is Sitting on Information on Trump-Russia Ties
By David Corn:
It was only a couple of questions in the middle of a hearing, but the queries posed to FBI Director James Comey by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) during a Senate Intelligence Committee gathering on Tuesday afternoon had potentially explosive implications, because they suggested that Wyden believes the FBI has been sitting on information regarding ties between Donald Trump's inner circle and Russia.
* * *
The most dramatic exchange came with Wyden's questions. He noted that several media outlets have reported that Trump campaign associates, including Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, had maintained connections with Russians tied to Putin. He asked Comey, "Has the FBI investigated these reported relationships?" Comey answered, "I would never comment on investigations...in an open forum."
Wyden pushed Comey further. He asked whether the FBI chief would declassify information related to this matter and "release it to the American people" by January 20. No, Comey said, adding, "I can't talk about it."
Wyden then declared, "The American people have a right to know this." He continued: "If it doesn't happen by January 20, I'm not sure it's going to happen."
Wyden's line of questioning indicated that he believes (or knows) the FBI has collected information on Trump ties to Moscow. And Wyden is in a position to know. As a member of the committee, he can see classified material gathered by the FBI and other national security agencies. With these questions to Comey, Wyden was seemingly referring to specific information. In fact, on November 30, he led all the Democratic members in sending a short letter to President Barack Obama that stated, "We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels." The letter gave no hint of the nature of this information.
But it is not hard to read between the lines: Intelligence committee members have received classified briefings that included information regarding contacts between the Trump camp and Russians.
The Full Story (January 10, 2017)
It was only a couple of questions in the middle of a hearing, but the queries posed to FBI Director James Comey by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) during a Senate Intelligence Committee gathering on Tuesday afternoon had potentially explosive implications, because they suggested that Wyden believes the FBI has been sitting on information regarding ties between Donald Trump's inner circle and Russia.
* * *
The most dramatic exchange came with Wyden's questions. He noted that several media outlets have reported that Trump campaign associates, including Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, had maintained connections with Russians tied to Putin. He asked Comey, "Has the FBI investigated these reported relationships?" Comey answered, "I would never comment on investigations...in an open forum."
Wyden pushed Comey further. He asked whether the FBI chief would declassify information related to this matter and "release it to the American people" by January 20. No, Comey said, adding, "I can't talk about it."
Wyden then declared, "The American people have a right to know this." He continued: "If it doesn't happen by January 20, I'm not sure it's going to happen."
Wyden's line of questioning indicated that he believes (or knows) the FBI has collected information on Trump ties to Moscow. And Wyden is in a position to know. As a member of the committee, he can see classified material gathered by the FBI and other national security agencies. With these questions to Comey, Wyden was seemingly referring to specific information. In fact, on November 30, he led all the Democratic members in sending a short letter to President Barack Obama that stated, "We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels." The letter gave no hint of the nature of this information.
But it is not hard to read between the lines: Intelligence committee members have received classified briefings that included information regarding contacts between the Trump camp and Russians.
The Full Story (January 10, 2017)
Monday, January 30, 2017
[Special] Editorial: Trump's Refugee Ban Explodes Upon Impact
President Trump signed an executive order which created a, to use the vernacular, shitstorm. Per CNN (1):
President Donald Trump's seismic move to ban more than 218 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees reverberated worldwide Saturday, as chaos and confusion rippled through US airports, American law enforcement agencies and foreign countries trying to grasp Washington's new policy.
Trump's executive order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed an appeal on behalf of two individuals held in limbo at JFK International Airport, and a federal Judge issued a stay against some portions of the ban. As Mother Jones explains (2), the stay is temporary but it has stopped people from being deported for the time being.
Although the executive order only targets certain countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen), the executive order included a religious test which specifically favored Christians (3), and as the Washington Post revealed, Rudolph Giuliani said, "So when [Trump] first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'"(4)
National Security experts thought the move was harmful to the U.S. Via Mother Jones:(5)
"Not only is it immoral and stupid, it's also counterproductive," says Patrick Skinner, a former CIA counterterrorism case officer who now works at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm. "We've got military, intelligence, and diplomatic personnel on the ground right now in Syria, Libya, and Iraq who are working side by side with the people, embedded in combat, and training and advising. At no time in the US's history have we depended more on local—and I mean local—partnerships for counterterrorism. We need people in Al Bab, Syria; we depend on people in a certain part of eastern Mosul, Iraq; in Cert, Libya. At the exact moment we need them most, we're telling these people, 'Get screwed.'"
Kirk W. Johnson, who spent a year on the reconstruction in Fallujah in Iraq with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), echoes Skinner's fears: "This will have immediate national security implications, in that we are not going to be able to recruit people to help us right now, and people are not going to step forward to help us in any future wars if this is our stance."
The move also led to a series of protests in cities and at airports across the country.(6) This is the second weekend of protests against Trump, and as a reminder, he has only been president for nine days. Despite these unprecedented level of mass protests against the President, GOP leaders are still supporting him.(7) As documented in The Atlantic:
President Donald Trump's seismic move to ban more than 218 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees reverberated worldwide Saturday, as chaos and confusion rippled through US airports, American law enforcement agencies and foreign countries trying to grasp Washington's new policy.
Trump's executive order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed an appeal on behalf of two individuals held in limbo at JFK International Airport, and a federal Judge issued a stay against some portions of the ban. As Mother Jones explains (2), the stay is temporary but it has stopped people from being deported for the time being.
Although the executive order only targets certain countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen), the executive order included a religious test which specifically favored Christians (3), and as the Washington Post revealed, Rudolph Giuliani said, "So when [Trump] first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'"(4)
National Security experts thought the move was harmful to the U.S. Via Mother Jones:(5)
"Not only is it immoral and stupid, it's also counterproductive," says Patrick Skinner, a former CIA counterterrorism case officer who now works at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm. "We've got military, intelligence, and diplomatic personnel on the ground right now in Syria, Libya, and Iraq who are working side by side with the people, embedded in combat, and training and advising. At no time in the US's history have we depended more on local—and I mean local—partnerships for counterterrorism. We need people in Al Bab, Syria; we depend on people in a certain part of eastern Mosul, Iraq; in Cert, Libya. At the exact moment we need them most, we're telling these people, 'Get screwed.'"
Kirk W. Johnson, who spent a year on the reconstruction in Fallujah in Iraq with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), echoes Skinner's fears: "This will have immediate national security implications, in that we are not going to be able to recruit people to help us right now, and people are not going to step forward to help us in any future wars if this is our stance."
The move also led to a series of protests in cities and at airports across the country.(6) This is the second weekend of protests against Trump, and as a reminder, he has only been president for nine days. Despite these unprecedented level of mass protests against the President, GOP leaders are still supporting him.(7) As documented in The Atlantic:
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
[Special] Mick Mulvaney, Trump's Selection to Head Office of Management and Budget
Here is what you need to know about John Michael "Mick" Mulvaney, a man with a nickname that has nothing to do with either of his three actual names:
- Washington Post: Trump Names Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a Fiscal Hawk, to Head Budget Office by Abby Phillip (December 17, 2016)
Mulvaney, 49, was elected to Congress in 2010 in the wave that brought a cohort of younger, staunchly conservative members into the House. Mulvaney quickly staked out ground as one of Congress’s most outspoken fiscal hawks — playing a key role in the 2011 showdown between President Obama and House Republicans that ended in the passage of strict budget caps.
Mr. Mulvaney, who did not respond to emails seeking comment, has cut an influential swath among House conservatives since he was elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, when he defeated a longtime representative, John Spratt, a Democrat. He won by characterizing his opponent as a big-spending liberal, unconcerned about fiscal prudence, even though as chairman of the House Budget Committee, Mr. Spratt was among his party’s leading deficit hawks.
Since then, Mr. Mulvaney has perpetually rejected short-term spending agreements and questioned the government’s need to increase its statutory borrowing limits to avoid default. He has repeatedly opposed some of his own party’s budget proposals, and quickly established himself as one of the most outspoken members of that 2010 class of Republicans. By 2013, at the start of his second term, he declined to support Mr. Boehner’s re-election as speaker, abstaining from the vote in protest.
- New York Times: In Mick Mulvaney, Trump Finds Anti-Establishment Leader for Budget Office by Jennifer Steinhauer and Michael D. Shear (December 17, 2016)
Mr. Mulvaney, who did not respond to emails seeking comment, has cut an influential swath among House conservatives since he was elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, when he defeated a longtime representative, John Spratt, a Democrat. He won by characterizing his opponent as a big-spending liberal, unconcerned about fiscal prudence, even though as chairman of the House Budget Committee, Mr. Spratt was among his party’s leading deficit hawks.
Since then, Mr. Mulvaney has perpetually rejected short-term spending agreements and questioned the government’s need to increase its statutory borrowing limits to avoid default. He has repeatedly opposed some of his own party’s budget proposals, and quickly established himself as one of the most outspoken members of that 2010 class of Republicans. By 2013, at the start of his second term, he declined to support Mr. Boehner’s re-election as speaker, abstaining from the vote in protest.
- Mother Jones: Trump's Budget Director Pick Spoke at a John Birch Society Event by Peva Levy (December 19, 2016)
In July, Mulvaney spoke at a dinner held by a local chapter of the group, which has long been exiled from mainstream conservatism. Founded in the 1950s, the outfit promoted a paranoid obsession with communist infiltration. It declared President Dwight Eisenhower "a conscious agent of the communist conspiracy." It opposed the civil rights movement as a communist plot. Ever since William F. Buckley Jr., the intellectual godfather of modern conservatism, felt compelled to disavow the John Birch Society in the early 1960s, most mainstream conservatives have dismissed the organization as an embarrassment for the right. But the group still exists and continues to emphasize the communist threat. In recent years, it has pushed more modern conspiracy theories: Obamacare finances euthanasia, the United Nations has a sinister scheme for world domination, Moscow is the hidden force behind Islamic terrorism.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
[Special] Editorial Prognostication
Trump may not be a true conservative, but he went and used their talking points and won the White House. Many liberals, progressives and casual observers were shocked by the results, particularly because the polls never had Trump winning. However, Trump's ascension should not be much of a surprise. From the days of the moral majority, the Republican Party has been slowly drifting away from the Rockefeller/Eisenhower model of operation. The Contract With America GOP takeover in the 90s, the Tea Party movement of the 00s, and now the Alt-Right/White Nationalist infiltration of the 10s has brought the GOP to the party of Trump.
Moderates of the party, such as Paul Ryan, may share the fate of Eric Cantor and lose their seats to hard-right conservatives, but all of them are giddy with excitement over the reality of controlling the White House, Senate and House. The GOP will be able to push nearly the entirety of their agenda for the next few years (depending on the midterm turnouts and the next presidential election). It will likely be devastating to all minorities, including women, and we could see serious consequences to the economy and the environment. The Supreme Court is likely lost for a generation or more. However, by 2020, minorities will be the majority for Americans under 18, and sometime around 2045 the US will be a minority majority country (meaning Caucasians will no longer be above 50% of the population). It is not possible for a party which has excluded and marginalized all people of color, all non-Christian religions, and women of any sort, to be successful on the national level beyond that point. This short-term success will be a long term catastrophe for the Republican Party.
The people who supported Trump will also be burned. Ryan is already saying he wants to eliminate Medicare (as explained in New York Magazine), a gut-bunch to Baby Boomers who supported Trump more than any other age group. There will be no wall along the Mexican border. Industrial, mining and manufacturing jobs will not increase. The "swamp" will not be drained.
Conservative Strategist Rick Wilson spoke with the Washington Post in October and warned of the consequences: “For years now, Democrats will be able to roll out TV ads and say, ‘When John Smith says today he’s for a brighter future, remember who he stood by: Donald Trump. He stood by Donald Trump’s misogyny, racism, sexism and stupidity.’” The Republican Party will fall to shifting demographics. It had the chance to be more inclusive, and it went the opposite way. That is not a feasible position. No matter how hard they try to stem the tide of immigration, the idea of a Norman Rockwell white protestant America is a dream that will not become a reality. Per the Post once again, from October 22:
The major demographic changes are well known. The United States is becoming more diverse racially and ethnically, better educated overall and with a population that is aging. Pew’s analysis found the following: “The Democratic Party is becoming less white, less religious and better-educated at a faster rate than the country as a whole, while aging at a slower rate. Within the GOP, the pattern is the reverse.”
By putting together the demographic shifts with changes in party allegiance, the Pew study underscored two big changes — one talked about for some years, the other an ongoing issue for Republicans that Trump’s candidacy has highlighted. Both bode poorly for the Republicans if they cannot adjust their appeal rapidly.
I know Trump fans do not see the writing on the wall, even though they are scared of Sharia law in the U.S. and ISIS attacks on American soil, despite the stupidity of same. Somewhere in their brains, Republicans know the end is near for conservatives of today (holdovers of 20th and even 19th century ideals that are incompatible with a modern world). As seen with Brexit and the rise of the far-right in Europe (via Time Magazine), there is a push back from conservatives, but it is nothing more than the thrashing and flailing of the dying, fighting to maintain relevancy and power. They may jack up the system for a while, they may make life difficult for minorities, women and progressives, but the future belongs to us. They can never change that.
By putting together the demographic shifts with changes in party allegiance, the Pew study underscored two big changes — one talked about for some years, the other an ongoing issue for Republicans that Trump’s candidacy has highlighted. Both bode poorly for the Republicans if they cannot adjust their appeal rapidly.
I know Trump fans do not see the writing on the wall, even though they are scared of Sharia law in the U.S. and ISIS attacks on American soil, despite the stupidity of same. Somewhere in their brains, Republicans know the end is near for conservatives of today (holdovers of 20th and even 19th century ideals that are incompatible with a modern world). As seen with Brexit and the rise of the far-right in Europe (via Time Magazine), there is a push back from conservatives, but it is nothing more than the thrashing and flailing of the dying, fighting to maintain relevancy and power. They may jack up the system for a while, they may make life difficult for minorities, women and progressives, but the future belongs to us. They can never change that.
Further Reading -
The Nation: The Republican Party Created This Monster
New York Times: The G.O.P. Created Donald Trump
Washington Post: Donald Trump is the Monster the GOP Created
Friday, November 4, 2016
Mother Jones: A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump
In June, the former Western intelligence officer—who spent almost two decades on Russian intelligence matters and who now works with a US firm that gathers information on Russia for corporate clients—was assigned the task of researching Trump's dealings in Russia and elsewhere, according to the former spy and his associates in this American firm. This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. (Before the former spy was retained, the project's financing switched to a client allied with Democrats.) "It started off as a fairly general inquiry," says the former spook, who asks not to be identified. But when he dug into Trump, he notes, he came across troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government. According to his sources, he says, "there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit."
This was, the former spy remarks, "an extraordinary situation." He regularly consults with US government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July on his own initiative—without the permission of the US company that hired him—he sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates, who asked not to be identified. (He declines to identify the FBI contact.) The former spy says he concluded that the information he had collected on Trump was "sufficiently serious" to share with the FBI.
Mother Jones has reviewed that report and other memos this former spy wrote. The first memo, based on the former intelligence officer's conversations with Russian sources, noted, "Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance." It maintained that Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals." It claimed that Russian intelligence had "compromised" Trump during his visits to Moscow and could "blackmail him." It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on "bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls."
The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was "shock and horror." The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. "It's quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on," he says.
"This is something of huge significance, way above party politics," the former intelligence officer comments. "I think [Trump's] own party should be aware of this stuff as well."
Sunday, October 16, 2016
[Special] Mother Jones: When Donald Took Revenge by Cutting Off Health Coverage for a Sick Infant
By Natalie Schreyer:
When Fred Sr. died, Freddy's children sued, claiming that the will "had been 'procured by fraud and undue influence' by Donald and the other surviving siblings," according to Johnston.
Johnston writes that medical insurance had consistently been provided to the family through Fred Sr.'s company. This coverage was crucial for Freddy's grandson (Donald's grandnephew), who suffered from seizures and later developed cerebral palsy. So crucial, in fact, that a letter sent from a Trump lawyer to the insurer after the patriarch's death in 1999 said that "all costs" for the sick child's care should be covered, regardless of caps on the plan or medical necessity, according to Johnston. That didn't last long.
A week after the lawsuit was filed in court, Freddy's son (Donald's nephew) received a letter informing him that the health insurance would be discontinued, meaning his ill son would be left without coverage. Donald openly admitted to the New York Daily News that he and his siblings took this action out of revenge.
"Why should we give him medical coverage?" Trump said, adding, "They sued my father, essentially. I'm not thrilled when someone sues my father."
The Full Story (August 25, 2016)
When Fred Sr. died, Freddy's children sued, claiming that the will "had been 'procured by fraud and undue influence' by Donald and the other surviving siblings," according to Johnston.
Johnston writes that medical insurance had consistently been provided to the family through Fred Sr.'s company. This coverage was crucial for Freddy's grandson (Donald's grandnephew), who suffered from seizures and later developed cerebral palsy. So crucial, in fact, that a letter sent from a Trump lawyer to the insurer after the patriarch's death in 1999 said that "all costs" for the sick child's care should be covered, regardless of caps on the plan or medical necessity, according to Johnston. That didn't last long.
A week after the lawsuit was filed in court, Freddy's son (Donald's nephew) received a letter informing him that the health insurance would be discontinued, meaning his ill son would be left without coverage. Donald openly admitted to the New York Daily News that he and his siblings took this action out of revenge.
"Why should we give him medical coverage?" Trump said, adding, "They sued my father, essentially. I'm not thrilled when someone sues my father."
The Full Story (August 25, 2016)
Monday, October 3, 2016
Mother Jones: Former Models For Donald Trump's Agency Say They Violated Immigration Rules And Worked Illegally
But the mogul's New York modeling agency, Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with Mother Jones. Financial and immigration records included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump's agency in the United States without a proper visa.
* * *
Founded in 1999, Trump Model Management "has risen to the top of the fashion market," boasts the Trump Organization's website, and has a name "that symbolizes success." According to a financial disclosure filed by his campaign in May, Donald Trump earned nearly $2 million from the company, in which he holds an 85 percent stake. Meanwhile, some former Trump models say they barely made any money working for the agency because of the high fees for rent and other expenses that were charged by the company.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
[Special] Editorial: Donald Trump's Tax Scandal
You may have seen that the New York Times dropped a bombshell on Saturday. If you missed it, allow me to share. In an article called Trump Tax Records Obtained by The Times Reveal He Could Have Avoided Paying Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, written by David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Megan Twohey, the Times leads off with this:
Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said that tax rules especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.
While the idea of a millionaire or billionaire going nearly two decades without paying taxes would leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone but the most strident Libertarian or Trump supporter, it may be more than just gaming the system ("that makes me smart," Trump quipped in response to Hillary Clinton's speculation that maybe Trump "didn't pay any federal income tax"). In fact, there might be something inherently dishonest, and possibly fraudulent, about what Trump has done.Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said that tax rules especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Mother Jones: Here's How Donald Trump Treats the Little People
By Kevin Drum:
He would have been personally bankrupt, too, but his creditors decided to put him on a leash and let him try to work his way out. He made steady progress, but the casinos continued to be a millstone around his neck. By the mid-'90s, however, the stock market was getting hot and lots of small investors, then as now, were mesmerized by the Trump name. So Trump decided that as long as there were lots of rubes who still thought he was a great businessman, he might as well take advantage of them. Timothy O'Brien tells the story in TrumpNation:
In a masterstroke of financial maneuvering, and in a tribute to the sucker-born-every-minute theorem, [Trump] managed to take two of the Trump casinos—the Plaza and the Taj Mahal—public in 1995 and 1996, at a time when Donald was unable to make his bank payments and was heading toward personal bankruptcy. The stock sales allowed Donald to buy the casinos back from the banks and unload huge amounts of debt. The offering yanked Donald out of the financial graveyard and left him with a 25 percent stake in a company he once owned entirely.
…In one fell swoop someone else became responsible for the debts that almost sank Donald…Exactly what investors thought they might get for their Trump Hotels investment wasn't entirely clear. Donald had already demonstrated that casinos weren't his forte, and investors were buying stock in a company that was immediately larded with debts that made it difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade the operations.
…Allan Sloan, the financial writer who had opined with great accuracy on many things Trump, offered a fair warning to Trump Hotels' investors: "Shareholders and bondholders have to be total fools ever to think that Donald Trump will put their interests ahead of his own."…Donald spent several years proving Sloan correct.
…Just a few months after Trump Hotels absorbed the Taj, Donald sold his last Atlantic City casino, the Castle, to the public company. That is, Donald sold his own casino, with all of its heavy debts, to a public company he controlled. The $490 million price tag for the Castle was about $100 million more than analysts thought it was worth…sending the company's stock into a nosedive from which it never recovered.
…Although Trump Hotels' shares were sinking and there were no earnings to be seen, Donald paid himself $7 million for his handiwork at the company in 1996…Jerry Useem at Fortune took note in 2000 of Donald's "disquieting” tendency to "use the casino company as his own personal piggy bank." In addition to the multimillion-dollar bonuses Donald was lifting out of Trump Hotels, Useem pointed out that "the pilots of his personal 727 are on the casino company's payroll" and that in 1998 Donald "had the already cash-strapped company lend him $26 million to pay off a personal loan."
The Full Story (March 14, 2016)
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