What we know about Donald Trump’s tax returns
Donald Trump’s tax returns have been released to the public, placing the former president’s finances and business practices in the spotlight as he is also facing calls to be criminally charged in connection to the January 6 Capitol riot.
The partially redacted returns from 2015 to 2020 amount to nearly 6,000 pages of what a preliminarily study appears to show as legal but creative accounting strategies to keep his federal tax contributions as low as possible.
An accompanying report by the committee points to what it considers a pattern of questionable claims regarding professional expenses, charitable deductions, what may be “disguised gifts” to his adult children, and canny use of real estate write-offs in New York.
Mr Trump was also revealed to have foreign bank accounts in China, the UK, Ireland, and St Maarten, and in his first year in office paid more in tax abroad than in the US.
The former president has reacted angrily to the publication of the returns warning that such a precedent will lead to “horrible things for so many people” and cause divisions in the US to “grow far worse”.
Follow our rolling coverage of what we know so far
ICYMI: Trump’s tax returns made public after multi-year court battle
A Democratic-controlled House of Representatives committee has published six years of President Donald Trump’s tax returns in an extraordinary move days before Republicans take control of the chamber.
The House Ways and Means Committee made public redacted versions of Mr Trump’s business and personal tax returns for the years 2015 – when he announced his candidacy for the presidency in the 2016 election – through to 2020, the last full year of his term.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 06:30
Kayleigh McEnany ‘a liar and an opportunist’ says Alyssa Farah
A trove of deposition transcripts were made available by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot, including statements coming from Ms Farah Griffin.
Graig Graziosi has the story.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 04:30
Ginni Thomas admits she was not aware of any evidence of voter fraud
In an interview with the House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol, a transcript of which was released on Friday, Ms Thomas said that she “wasn’t very deep” in her knowledge of specific voter fraud allegations at the time of her lobbying effort, but instead “was basing what I believed off of people I trusted and news that I trusted.”
Richard Hall reports on her testimony.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 03:30
Trump aide reveals how long it took to walk back call for looters to be shot
It took five hours for a White House aide to convince then-president Donald Trump to walk back his infamous tweet calling for looters to be shot during racial justice protests, according to dramatic January 6 interview transcripts.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 02:30
Trump made millions from father’s legacy while his own properties flopped
Donald Trump’s business empire relies much on public image and societal whims — and the cost of bucking those trends was evident in the second year of his presidency, writes John Bowden.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 01:30
Ginni Thomas says she regrets post-election texts to Meadows
Virginia Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says she regrets sending texts to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after the 2020 election, telling the House Jan. 6 committee that “I would take them all back if I could today.”
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 01:00
Trump had foreign bank accounts in China, UK and Ireland while in office
Donald Trump had foreign bank accounts in China, the UK, Ireland and St Maarten during his presidency, and in his first year in the White House paid more foreign tax than US, his returns have shown.
In 2017, Trump’s foreign financial interests were still apparently quite strong; he paid more than $1m in tax to other countries that year. But at the same time, his domestic efforts to shield himself from taxes were in full swing too, and he paid less than $1,000 for the year in federal income taxes.
John Bowden has the details.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 00:30
Meadows won’t face voter fraud charges in North Carolina
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff to President Donald Trump, won’t face voter fraud charges related to his 2020 registration and absentee vote in North Carolina, the state’s attorney general announced Friday.
Meadows, a former western North Carolina congressman who worked for Trump during his final months in the Oval Office, was an outspoken proponent of the ex-president’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Meadows drew the attention of government attorneys when details that he was simultaneously registered to vote in North Carolina and two other states surfaced.
Oliver O’Connell31 December 2022 00:00
Trump reacts to publication of his tax returns
Oliver O’Connell30 December 2022 23:30
Despite warnings, Kushner, Melania and other Trump insiders claimed Jan 6 violence was a ‘shock’
Top Trump administration aides claim they were surprised that protests at the US Capitol turned violent on January 6, 2021, despite law enforcement agencies warning of such a possibility in advance.
The claims came in newly released transcripts of interviews conducted by the House committee investigating the attack with numerous top advisors to then-president Donald Trump.
Richard Hall has the story.
Oliver O’Connell30 December 2022 22:50