Key takeaways from the New York Times' investigation into Trump's taxes while in office

 During his 2016 campaign and throughout his time in office, President Donald Trump has repeatedly made promises to "drain the swamp." The phrase signaled to many a desire to change Washington's widely maligned political culture.

In office, however, Trump has reportedly done just the opposite, according to a recent New York Times investigation into the federal taxes across the Trump organization.

Here are some of the most notable revelations from the investigation, which found over 200 companies, lobbying groups and foreign governments did business with, and benefitted from, work with Trump's businesses. 

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, told the Times in response to their reporting that Trump remained out of the loop on the Trump Organization's daily operations. Eric and Don. Jr remained in charge of the family business, he said.

"The president has kept his promise every day to the American people to fight for them, drain the swamp and always put America first," Deere said.

New York Times investigation: President Donald Trump's tax returns

Trump did not back away from family operation

After his victory in the 2016 election, Trump vowed to back away from the day-to-day activities of the Trump Organization, leaving the family operation in the hands of his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. 

The Times found, however, that Trump would occasionally let managers at the Trump International Hotel in Washington know he was being briefed on their performances. At Mar-a-Lago, the president reportedly raised prices on new members aiming to join the club at least twice during his first term.

Trump also would sometimes survey the details of club memberships and operations while serving as president. Eric Trump was known to brief his father on the Trump Organization, according to a former administration official cited by the Times.

Trump family businesses earned millions before he took office

Interviews conducted by the Times with almost 250 business leaders, lobbyists and Trump administration officials detailed how Trump interacted with monied interests before and during his presidency. 

The Times said almost a quarter of the patrons in its report had not been previously reported on by other outlets.

Sixty customers with business interests with Trump before he took office brought nearly $12 million to the Trump Organization during the first two years of Trump’s presidency, according to the Times.

While many of those interviews said that Trump's advancing of their interests was not tied to their business with the Trump organization, almost all saw some kind of benefit from the federal government after Trump took office. 

The tax records found that the club’s initiation fees in 2016 gave about $6 million in revenue for the organization. 

Mar-a-Lago operates as a major lobbying site 

The Times report also found that many of Trump's associates who helped lobby for his resorts had been elevated to political primacy in Washington as well.

These customers ranged from political leaders in the Dominican Republic Nigeria and Ukraine to large private prison and agricultural firms. Each of the foreign officials and domestic firms who conducted business with Ballard's firm saw notable material benefits from the administration.

Much of this lobbying was conducted at and through connections made at the Trump Organization's Doral and Mar-a-Lago resorts in Florida. 

Access to Trump through Mar-a-Lago was common

Trump has spent much of his time in office at one of his organization's properties. The Times investigation found that his frequent stays at Mar-a-Lago made him and senior officials easily accessible to the resort's members, many of whom had joined with the explicit goal of lobbying the president.

Trump has spent nearly 400 days of his presidency at one of the family's hotels and properties during his presidency, making for many opportunities for such lobbying at Mar-a-Lago and elsewhere.

Experts on Trump's taxes: 5 key takeaways from experts on the president's taxes

Customers framed their patronage in religious terms

Evangelical elites and other prominent social conservatives are among the president's most fervent supporters and frequent customers. The organization's Washington hotel has emerged as a major center of religious gatherings, fund-raisers and tours for conservative Christian groups during Trump's presidency.

Many religious conservatives explicitly linked their support of the president's businesses and administration to the president's socially conservative agenda. Some cited Trump's stances on conservative judges, abortion and Israel during interviews conducted with the Times to explain their support.

High-profile evangelical ministers were also given VIP status at Trump resorts, according to former employees who spoke with the Times. 

Social media chronicles Trump engagement with lobbyists

Hundreds of social media posts reviewed by the Times also found that many of those seeking favor with the president felt no need to hide their intentions. Many members and visitors of Trump properties frequently bragged about their access to the president.

“Once he became president, everyone wanted to be around him,” Jeff Greene, a Florida real estate developer and Mar-a-Lago member, told the Times. "People like to be where presidents are.”

The Times also found that over 20 officials, politicians and organizations from foreign groups had visited with the president and senior aides at Trump properties, often using the opportunities to gain political favor at home or lobby on behalf of their countries.

Many of these foreign politicians, many of whom were in not in government in their home countries, would treat the informal interactions as official state visits or otherwise capitalize on engagement an appearance would given them on social media.

Experts on the implications

After the first installment of the New York Times investigation, USA TODAY spoke with multiple experts about the findings of the report, including their legality and implications for the president’s electoral chances. Overall, the president’s behavior and that of his businesses are likely legal, but highly problematic nonetheless.

"These tax returns are aggressive. The devil is in the details, but we don’t have all the details," said Francine Lipman, a tax expert and professor with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Law. "That doesn’t mean it’s tax fraud. But Trump is taking some very aggressive positions."

Here the takeaways from what the experts said: 

Massive deductions aren't unusual in Real Estate

Dan Geltrude, a CPA, tax expert and founder of accounting firm Geltrude & Company LLC in Nutley, New Jersey, says it to see people in investment real estate take large tax deductions for depreciation.

"There are ways to pay little in taxes. That’s not Trump’s fault. Blame the IRS tax code for that," says Geltrude. "It’s reasonable that he would want to limit what he pays in taxes just like everyone else would." 

Audit questions

Trump’s ongoing tax audit dispute with the Internal Revenue Service poses many questions.

"He's a sitting president who gets to choose the IRS commissioner and the Treasury secretary and potentially owes $100 million. It reeks of conflict of interest,” Lipman said.

Net worth remains a mystery 

Joshua Jenson, the managing partner of a CPA firm Jenson & Company, said even with the report it is still difficult to determine Trump’s overall net worth. As with the most recent revelations, however, they do show how Trump earns money and what he owns.

"It’s difficult to determine someone’s net worth from tax returns," says Jenson. "But if you have the business tax returns, you can see the assets and liabilities, which in essence shows the net worth of that business. But only on the book basis, not fair market value.

Questionable deductions

Overall, Trump’s lack of paid taxes is an extreme example of what is possible under the U.S. tax code.

"If you find ways of deducting every act in society that you do, then you've basically eliminated an income tax for yourself," Phil Hackney, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told USA TODAY. "That creates real problems because employees can't do that. He's found ways to deduct things that everyone else pays taxes on."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Key takeaways from NYT look into Trump's taxes while in office

Wildfire risk in the West continues high,

The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield,

 

September 28, 2020 Heather Cox Richardson Sep 29 After last night’s news dump, today was mostly follow-up while everyone takes a deep breath before tomorrow’s presidential debates. Since last night was a late one and the morning early, I’m going to take advantage of the lack of big news to rest up for tomorrow. First, though, a rundown of the little that hit the radar screen: Wildfire risk in the West continues high, with more than 3.7 million acres burned in California alone and 26 dead there. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, was overheard talking on a plane about Trump’s new medical advisor for the coronavirus task force, Scott Atlas, a radiologist and talking head on the Fox News Channel. “Everything he says is false,” Redfield said. Atlas’s advocacy of exposing children to the coronavirus to achieve herd immunity has made public health experts blanch. “Many of his opinions and statements run counter to established science, and, by doing so, undermine public-health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy,” 78 of his former colleagues wrote in an open letter. More than 200,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and cases are currently rising in 21 states. Vice-President Mike Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, says cases are going to continue to rise. Meanwhile, the New York Times revealed today that, this summer, White House officials pressured the CDC to downplay the dangers of coronavirus to youngsters as the administration pushed the idea of reopening schools. White House officials actively sought to present the idea that the disease was less dangerous to children, and that the psychological damage of staying out of school would be more harmful to them than the coronavirus. While the CDC was trying to make the pros and cons of reopening schools clear, Trump said in early July that children handled the virus well, and “we want to get our schools open. We want to get them open quickly, beautifully, in the fall.” Last night’s tax story earned Trump’s predictable angry tweets. But there was a thundering silence from Republicans about the tax story, while Democrats expressed alarm at the dangers of a president exposed to more than $300 million in debt. For ordinary Americans, even small debt can prevent obtaining a security clearance because it makes a person vulnerable to blackmail or other pressure. After the Republican campaign’s initial reaction was to blame Democrats and “RINOs” for Brad Parscale’s suicide scare and hospitalization yesterday, it turned out today that the issue was domestic violence. A police report showed that Parscale’s wife called police when he loaded a gun. Arriving at the scene, police saw she was was badly bruised and scratched, and she “stated Brad Parscale hits her.” The New York Times tonight issued part 2 of the story of Trump’s taxes, this time a deep dive into how The Apprentice rehabilitated Trump’s image as a wealthy businessman. Finally, the day’s biggest news story dropped tonight, when a member of the grand jury that oversaw the Breonna Taylor case filed a motion asking the judge to release the grand jury proceedings. The motion suggests that the public statements of Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron contradict the evidence the grand jury saw. That grand jury was in charge of considering charges against the three law enforcement officers who executed a no-knock warrant on Taylor’s apartment and ended up murdering the 26-year-old emergency room technician after her boyfriend shot at the men he thought were intruders.