Korwin: Where Are Trump’s Taxes? Five Problems with that Question

Alan Korwin Authors Columns
Korwin: Where Are Trump’s Taxes? Five Problems with that Question

(Photo: AP/ Charles Krupa)

The lamestream media told you:

Why won’t president Trump show everyone his tax returns? (Repeat fifty-five thousand times without change.) We want to know his net worth. We want to know how much he paid. We have a right to see all this. We demand the data.

USA Today, now an unabashed arm of the democrat party and a full-fledged propaganda tool, is promoting the alt-left’s tax-release campaign, with front-page color coverage of mysteriously coordinated national demonstrations on tax day, April 15. They demand compliance with their demands. No balance or conflicting information was included, despite ethical rules that require two sides to every story.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Reporters had stopped asking about Trump’s taxes, now that they have other gripes to repeat ad nausem, (largest “non-nuclear” bomb…) which will frustrate them equally, for similar reason.

That ended when “news” outfits nationwide gave exorbitant coverage to staged rallies by left-wing malcontents demanding presidential action on his tax returns — where none is required.

The only five problems with reporters’ unyielding request for Trump’s taxes are:

1. As the president has repeatedly said, his returns are under audit, so the papers are only a draft. They are unofficial, subject to change, and can be accepted, rejected or rewritten at the pleasure of IRS. Releasing incomplete unofficial returns serves no one and would only confuse the issue. Where is the reporter who brought this up and said, “Next question please?” This adds to the collapse of credibility journalism now rightfully enjoys.

2. Taxes don’t show your net worth, despite left-wing demands to get that information from the returns. If leftists or reporters filed taxes they would know this. You do. Why hasn’t one reporter chastised one person, including other reporters for not asking about that? Does this indicate that, according to leading experts, they’re all idiots? Or they don’t file taxes themselves, and that’s why they don’t know this simple, common knowledge?

3. The demanders insist, “How much did he pay?” If he paid zero, does that mean he should pay anyway, even if he doesn’t owe? If you make a billion dollars, but lose 1.2 billion, you owe nothing, that’s how it works. These abject haters want him to pay no matter what. They act as if they hate the rich, capitalism that has made them free and well off, and they don’t understand how it all works.

4. Sure, maybe the president should show his taxes. But aren’t your taxes private? I know mine are. Bills are being introduced to change this. Might be a good idea, I haven’t decided. Maybe all documentation should be required. Maybe. Until then, jury’s out, rule of law. The previous guy took three years just to tell us where he was born.

5. No matter what they say, the only reason the alt-left and dems are screaming for them is so they can attack. It could say he walks on water and they’d argue he can’t swim. We all know this. Why don’t reporters make the point? And we know that too — because they’re not neutral reporters, they are attack dogs, just watch the so-called “news.”

According to unsourced reports, Mr. Trump has said he put his returns where they will never be found. Under Mr. Obama’s:

  • Occidental transcripts
  • Columbia transcripts
  • Harvard University records
  • Punahou Hawaii School K-12 college prep school records (missing)
  • Illinois State Senate records (missing)
  • Passport application
  • Harvard funding source (foreign student aid)
  • “Born in Kenya” book proposal from literary agent for 16 years
  • Fast and Furious documents
  • White House guest list (complete version)
  • Personal medical and drug use records
  • Social Security Number irregularities files
  • Selective Service Card irregularities files
  • Documentation concerning ACORN, Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright

For additional background missed by the lamestream media in saturation coverage of Trump’s still-under-audit tax filing staged demonstrations visit WesternJournalism.com and Brietbart.com.

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  • Jim A April 29, 2017, 12:49 am

    Alt left moon bats constantly call Trump a liar, given that, why would they think he would tell the truth on his taxes? The real reason they want his taxes is to develop never ending questions Trump can’t answer i.e., In 2006 you claimed a $2,000 deduction for depreciation of a company vehicle, we have an anonymous source that says this vehicle used for escorting Russian business associates, is this true?

    • davud April 29, 2017, 6:42 pm

      the accountants who do his taxes know better than to lie. or at least if they don’t, they can lie more cunningly than he does.

  • Nelson Kline April 28, 2017, 11:34 pm

    What does this have to do with guns?
    I read this blog for news about guns, not partisan politics.

    • Jed April 30, 2017, 2:56 am

      First I’ll answer your near journalistic quality question as I doubt Mr Korwin will. The blog entitled “Where Are Trump’s Taxes? Five Problems with that Question”, is literally an opinion piece about President Trump’s Taxes.. (imagine that.) So it does not have anything to do with guns. Mr. Korwin often expresses opinions, why you read his blog is a personal choice and you simply could have skipped reading this one being the title made it clear this was not about guns.
      Instead you were compelled to ask a silly question? Seems a little “Partisan”…

  • stellerseaeagle April 28, 2017, 11:33 pm

    Has Gunsamerica been taken over by Breitbart?

    • Steve Warren May 30, 2017, 1:56 pm

      We wish!

  • Scott B April 28, 2017, 4:18 pm

    Great article, but lets keep it factual. Obama’s birth certificate fake news was cooked up by those who do not nor have ever lived in Hawaii and understand Hawaiian birth certificates. Obama was correct from day one. And I am not a Obama fan.

  • Scott B April 28, 2017, 4:16 pm

    Spell check helps.
    WTF does the now shown criminal behavior from some right wing extremist have to do with Obama? REmember all that Acorn Video? It came from some now jailed right wing extremist. It was not true. I do not care for Acorn, but let’s keep this factual.

  • Tonto Svensen April 28, 2017, 12:58 pm

    There is one overriding reason he needs to release his taxes:
    He PROMISED HE WOULD if elected. Well, he’s been elected. This is one promise no one can prevent him from keeping. Man up, Donald.

    • larry April 28, 2017, 4:17 pm

      I could care less about his taxes, they showed his 05 taxes and he paid three times what the Clintons did. I’m more concerned with what he’ll do for our 2A rights, cleaning the ILLEGAL trash out of the country as well as securing the border.

    • robertthomas999 April 28, 2017, 5:48 pm

      He did promise to reveal his taxes with one caveat: When Hillary releases all of her e-mails.

      • Joseph Burke April 28, 2017, 6:30 pm

        Haa haa ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha!

    • William Horner April 28, 2017, 11:39 pm

      His taxes are under Obama’s Birth Certificate and Hillary’s E-Mails.

  • Warner Anderson April 28, 2017, 12:50 pm

    He should release his return but can take refuge in the law. It’s not about (listen up, Korwin!) how much he made, or how much he paid. It’s about WHERE the income comes from. You and I simply don’t know. Congress needs to remedy this gap – any presidential or VP candidate should release their past 5 yr returns and thereafter future returns effective on the date of their filing for candidacy, or accepting the nomination, whichever is earlier. Why is this being discussed in a gun forum? We’re not lock-step Trump apologists.

    • JR Hutto April 28, 2017, 1:10 pm

      Warner, I’m assuming by your “take refuge in the law” statement, you well know releasing of tax documents IS NOT a prerequisites for office enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. If you think it should be then, I suggest you either run for office and submit a bill then pass an amendment to change the Constitution, if you win a seat or, lobby your own representative and senators until one of them gets the change you want enacted. Until then, showing taxes is not a requirement for holding the office of President and/or Vice-President,it’s merely a tradition started by Nixon

      • T L Davies April 28, 2017, 2:33 pm

        Well said JR, but I know the truth really hurts those that may be or are on the other side and believe nothing Trump has or would say. But before I’d even remotely think about showing them, ALL those records of Obama would HAVE to be shown as well. ESPECIALLY the passport, Illinois State senate records, the Harvard funding source (student aid) and K-12 records. I personally could two sh–s about his taxes, but if the dems want to get nasty, let’s make it so ALL elected officials have to show their returns. Wonder how that would set with Reid, Polosi, Feinstein, Sharpton, Warren, and Maxine just to mention a few.

    • Jed April 30, 2017, 3:10 am

      Future returns? And just how far into the future would your little fantasy go? For someone who wants Korwin to stick to gun talk, you certainly are not above a bizarre dabble into ignorant political opinions before relaying that suggestion. As in “do what I say and not what I do”.

  • Ringo Lapua April 28, 2017, 12:27 pm

    Who cares about his taxes. Trump has been in audit by the IRS and that began while Obongo was President. Obama to this day has never provided us with real factual information about his citizenship which is far more important. Trump has been doing a great job despite the Democrat interference and despite the air headed Republicans who should be supporting him but are not.

  • davud April 28, 2017, 12:08 pm

    so many of these arguments are based on the idea that we should simply trust a public official. sad times for actual skeptics of government.

    • Warner Anderson April 28, 2017, 12:51 pm

      Amen.

  • Michael April 28, 2017, 11:55 am

    Everything you were saying about this President up to .3 was getting a pass from me because I understand you are a sensationalist alt. right journalist, OK, fine! When I read this, “They act as if they hate the rich, capitalism that has made them free and well off,”(?) … You are saying that the rich+capitalism “has made them free and well off”? … Really?
    Please go back to learning your history, you have swerved out of your lane and are about to have a head-on collision with a FACT-TRUCK!

  • Methadras April 28, 2017, 11:34 am

    No presidential candidate should be obligated to show their tax returns. It is no one’s business what it in there. This nonsense needs to be done away with. If you as a presidential candidate want to volunteer that information, that’s one you, but there shouldn’t be these expectation that it will happen.

  • Steve April 28, 2017, 11:12 am

    Please stick to gun topics on which you are very knowledgeable. You’re five points are just regurgitated talking points.
    1) It doesn’t matter that his returns are under audit. The president’s returns are audited every year. Obama released his every year anyway as have other presidents. Trump’s returns are not incomplete they are under audit(he says). When he signed his returns he swore that the information he gave was true so under audit or not no law precludes their release.
    2)Nobody cares about his net worth, per se. They want to know where the money comes from and who he owes money to.
    3)It matters what he paid because we want to know if his positions on tax policy will benefit him and his family. We now do know that having seen his 2005 1040 his latest one sheet of paper tax “plan” would have saved him something like $30 million by cutting out the alternative minimum tax.
    4) My taxes are private but I’m not asking people to elect me president. We need to know whether the man who is supposed to be working for us is on the hook to foreign banks. Your birther comment is just stupid. Obama was born in Hawaii. Full stop. It didn’t take him three years to tell us. Oh wait maybe he was going back in time to write that 1963 newspaper article about being born in Hawaii.
    5)It’s not just democrats asking to see the returns. recent polling says that 75% of Americans believe he should. Actual billionaires like warren Buffet release their returns every year. Trump campaigned on America first. So how about putting us first. His voters placed a lot of trust in him and deserve to know as Nixon said that their president is not a crook. Spoiler alert, he is. As to your other bullet points, stick to guns where your shots are better aimed.

    • Warner Anderson April 28, 2017, 12:54 pm

      Well said.

    • kid April 28, 2017, 1:40 pm

      Steve, well put.

    • Chris April 28, 2017, 2:25 pm

      You should have ended that with…”mic drop”

  • Tom Scire April 28, 2017, 11:04 am

    No business man I know would show their tax returns why should he. The Democrats lost and they really should stop their whining.
    They should start supporting the President instead of trying to block everything he’s try to do. I think they should start showing
    how they are voting on Bills in both houses so the American people know who to vote for in the next State elections.
    I’d be willing to bet they would start caring about the American people then.

  • Bill Herrick April 28, 2017, 11:04 am

    No, you are wrong on this. He absolutely NEEDS to release his taxes. He promised that he would. We have no idea how he is manipulating tax codes / laws to benefit his own businesses and / or his children. We NEED to know if other governments are indebted to him or him to them….his tax returns show a LOT more then just net worth.
    I voted for him but now he has changed all his / the stances on the items that were the reason I voted for him in the first place. He has lied to us over and over….and over. Now I look at him as any salesperson or Snake Oil salesman of old….say and do anything to get your (our) money or your vote and then abandon us. He totally hoodwinked us and America.

    • Bob Lee April 28, 2017, 9:24 pm

      Actually everything you think is the exact opposite….this is the result of watching the MSM….who are the actual other political party, and their front men are the mindless Democrats….I will waste no more time here other than to say the majority of the country see right through you….(see “election, November”)

  • Mister Ronald April 28, 2017, 10:18 am

    Trump E-Mailed everything to Hillary Clinton and she deleted them

  • Chuck in Phoenix April 28, 2017, 10:02 am

    Dear President Trump, Screw the liberals and anyone else that cries to see your taxes, they only want to use them to cry, bitch and complain about you some more.
    God speed to you for taking on this task of crushing the Liberal Morons and turning the course of America around from the Hell bound trip it was on.
    God Bless the President of the United States..Donald Trump.

  • Zip April 28, 2017, 9:41 am

    Why should he show his returns? Let me give you 3 good reasons…
    1. Conflicts
    2. Conflicts
    3. CONFLICTS

    • Bill Herrick April 28, 2017, 11:05 am

      Exactly. He has lied so many times and changed his positions so often he does not know what he stands for….

    • Alan April 28, 2017, 11:39 am

      That simply proves you don’t understand taxes, especially those of a Corporation.
      It also shows you don’t understand your enemy, they won’t be satisfied if he did, and they would still use it and twist it in whatever way suits their desires.
      I don’t even like the guy, but if ANYONE thinks he is more of a crook then ANY given Demmy or Repub politico, then that person is a fool.
      I’ll take a business ‘shark’ any day over a lying politico who makes their money off the backs of the taxpayers almost exclusively.
      Ask yourself, why are so many politicos millionaires AFTER they entered office???????

      • Chris April 28, 2017, 2:29 pm

        How much of a business shark is he if he is regularly being sued, and losing cases, or at least settling out of court, which is the same as loss?

        • Alan April 28, 2017, 4:11 pm

          You ask such a question in THE most litigious society on earth???
          Anyone can sue at the drop of a hat.
          Do you even understand that some cases are simply NOT worth winning, that ONLY the lawyers win???
          And just WHAT does any of these cases prove???
          Show me one that proves who was in the wrong or right. And was that wrong personal, or business oriented.
          Why do people INSIST on chasing the Red Herrings the left throws out there?
          BTW, where are all those women he allegedly messed with???
          They were either bought off (hussies!) or realized they were going to get in trouble themselves.
          Either way, who is MORE trustworthy??? Make the call.
          IF he REALLY was as bad as some make him to be, He would have been impeached by now!!
          The Demmies would have USED the info against him, but where is THAT info!!!
          It doesn’t exist, it’s a sham!!!! It’s POLITICAL!!!!!!!!!
          Someone mentioned the Russian connection, WHAT CONNECTION??????? Nothing has been proven, and yet here we are.
          Talk about our own playing into the hands of the Left, some people here are just waltzing right into the trap!!!!
          Jesus, my own gun nut fellows are their own worst enemy.
          But hey, your other choice was Hillary, so if anyone is having buyers remorse, you really didn’t have ANY OTHER choice!!!!
          Better the devil ya know……………………………..

  • joefoam April 28, 2017, 9:30 am

    If he had done anything wrong in reporting his taxes the left leaning IRS would have hung him, so apparently he hasn’t. the only reason journalists (read democrats) want to see the returns is to give them an opportunity to attack our president. When Harry Reid claimed Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years on the senate floor everyone was up in arms. When the returns were produced you could hear crickets chirping. Mr. Reid later admitted it was a purely political assassination attempt with no basis in fact, and he would do it again if he thought it would benefit his party. I expect the same thing would happen if Trump releases his. Nice job media. As far as embellishing, I don’t expect much honesty from any politician-remember “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor” or “read my lips, no new taxes” or how about “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”

  • Scott April 28, 2017, 9:11 am

    I own a small business. I was subject to a “routine audit” a couple of years ago. I have a fantastic accountant who navigated the process valiantly, reaching a positive outcome for me and my business. However, during the course of the audit, my accountant found frustration with the investigating accountant and their level of inexperience, pointing out several mistakes that were made and feeling more like a teacher than a colleague.

    On a VERY personal note, I dated an IRS accountant in my past. She admitted the agency doesn’t pay very well and there are proportionately, very few career accountants working there. It’s a GREAT place to cut your teeth, but a horrible place to grow long in the tooth. So they come, learn and leave.

    On another VERY personal note, standing behind my accountant was my OTHER accountant, a forensic specialist with years of experience in private practice. He made it clear I had nothing to worry about in my personal process, as he would run circles against the inexperienced agents, if necessary.

    Therein lies the rub . . . should I have been running for President and showed my tax returns while they are under audit, guys like my accountants, or even guys better skilled than them, would pour over each and every one my issues and dissect them to a point where there would be an outcome NOT in my favor, release their dissections to the mass media and give the IRS all they would need to lambast me, whether fairly or not.

    If you’re the biggest, baddest guy in your town, and you move to a city, you should expect there are bigger and badder guys in that city, so you have to remember that strong possibility, and that an ass-kicking may be coming. So why would I, with two of the biggest and baddest accountants in my town sitting across from the revenuer, pick up and move the process to a large public park in a big city before we finish our fight? And why should POTUS?

    He has my personal support until the audit is complete and the statute of limitations to reopen the matter expires before I will be critical of him not releasing those returns.

    It’s good and prudent business to take that position, and preserves ones fiduciary responsibility to that business.

    Take a peek at whether or not we are operating under admiralty laws or the laws of the land . . . if we’re operating under admiralty law, your fiduciary responsibilities to a corporation are much more important than your responsibilities to any individual “subject” or “subjects” living here . . .

    Follow the money.

  • Jimmy April 28, 2017, 9:10 am

    Unfortunately, most of the US population knows very little about tax law. That’s why so many people have someone else prepare their taxes and those taxes are extremely simple. Maintaining profitability in a corporation is unimaginably difficult. More than 90% of businesses fail within the first five years. Of the 10% that make it, 90% of them fail in the next 5 years. That said, the tax code is set up and highly scrutinized by our government and our people. Mr. Trumps taxes, corporate and personal, were filed and approved by the IRS. If anyone has a problem with his taxes, talk to the IRS. Tax code is designed to rightfully deduct all expenses related to business and to deduct all depreciation of assets lost to deterioration over time, that’s the simple part. What is apparently difficult for the media to demonstrate is the fact that Mr. Trump and every other CEO of any company also files personal taxes. So I ask, which ones do they want to see? All of his Corp taxes for his dozens of businesses? Only his personal? Do the people only want to see the profits and not the losses? Would they even understand any of them? What a bunch of fools! Does anyone realize the tax revenue he has generated every single year for our country, even after showing a loss? How many employees does he have? How much building does he do? Can you imagine his personal property tax each year ? I believe the majority of the US population would enjoy a nice raise in salary if they only received the money he spends on fuel tax each year. The IRS could pay him ten times Obamas salary every year and still come out ahead. What ignorant fools…
    On the other hand, take a look at the Clinton Foundation “Not For Profit” Corporation. The dems had no problem with the Clinton’s crooked ways.
    Trump produces everything he possibly can, he simply works his ass off constantly , he doesn’t need to climb the political ladder to make a living. The dem leaders take everything they can, they require staying in politics, as they can’t make it by producing measurable results in a productive work force. If there was one requirement we could add to the criteria for presidency I wish we could ask our candidates to run a successful business with hundreds of employees before trying to run our country.

  • Wes James April 28, 2017, 8:01 am

    Why do we want to see his taxes? Because it’s part of being President- showing your assets. Being president opens yourself up to public scrutiny, and everyone knows this. All other Presidents have shown theirs since whenever.
    Trumps numerous conflict-of-interests raise so many questions that his tax returns could provide some insight to- such as sources of income… Russia? How much is he hiding???
    He’s the crookedest president we’ve ever had…..
    THAT’S WHY!!

    • JD April 28, 2017, 10:41 am

      Well, maybe the most crooked in the past approx 100 days. “Ever” is a bit of a disingenuous stretch.

    • Patriot April 28, 2017, 11:36 pm

      Hey Wes,,your Liberal tin foil hat is on a little tight,might want to loosen it up a bit,,it’s obviously cutting off the blood flow to your brain,imaginary conspiracies must be a hobby for you,,

  • Derek Hannan April 28, 2017, 7:57 am

    Let me get this straight; you, a sensationalist journalist, are whining about sensationalist journalism? Interesting.

  • Sparksfly April 28, 2017, 7:53 am

    What could we learn from Trump’s taxes that we don’t already know?
    He’s not as rich as he claims to be–claiming to be a billionaire when you’re actually only worth a several hundred million is a lie–and it’s a character flaw to lie that big.
    He hasn’t donated “tens of millions of dollars to charity”–Once again, the kind of lie that shows a huge character flaw.
    Which banks he owes money to and how much he owes–we already know that American banks have been unwilling to extend credit to him and we know he owes Deutsche Bank over 200 million dollars. Who else and how much are important when decisions being made can be influenced by a bank in China or Russia calling in a note if something is done or not done.
    What is driving his income stream and how–Trump is selling condominiums, for example; how many condominiums is he selling, to whom (there’s the banks popping up again, perhaps) and for how much? This has the potential to show money laundering activities.
    These are all questions that can be answered by his tax returns–by this year’s return and, through financial investigation, through other years’ returns that are not under audit.
    We should know if the President is a man whose character is such that he lies about his income, his donations and his debts–because his financial vulnerabilities will affect us if he makes decisions based not on what’s good for America, but what’s good for Trump, Inc.

  • Enrique Pantin April 28, 2017, 7:02 am

    I am a Republican. Good article, but you did what you said it should not be done… “No balance or conflicting information was included, despite ethical rules that require two sides to every story.” It is sad to almost always only see pro or againt Trump comments. There are very few honest, well researched, and well reasoned articles out there and yours is not one of those.

  • Edward April 28, 2017, 5:20 am

    Being that the new tax reform proposal presented by the President is skewed heavily towards providing tax relief to high income individuals, I’d be interested to know how much more it’ll benefit him than me. Most of us work just as hard for our money and deserve to know who’s benefiting and why.

  • Lars Skinner April 28, 2017, 4:29 am

    There’s a reason why this is expected of people aspiring to the office of POTUS. We, the people (you know, those that POTUS works FOR) need to see, based on his assets, businesses, stocks, etc., where there would be a conflict of interest between his own financial entanglements (or his families) and proposed legislation, lobbying, etc. (like the tax proposal just released). You can’t understand why anyone is worrying about this?!? Aren’t you the least bit troubled by the prospect of Trump turning the Presidency into an oligarchy? Where’s all the outrage from those yelling about the Clinton Foundation and ‘pay-for-play’ (probably rightfully so)? It shouldn’t be any different just because he’s a Republican (I’m an Independent, BTW). And the whole “audit” excuse is complete BS. There’s a *reason* he doesn’t want us to see his taxes, or he would have released them and put the issue to rest by now.

    • KurtW April 28, 2017, 7:42 am

      Juts like even more relevant information (see partial list at end of article) was so quickly, willingly, and readily provided by bath-house barry……

      Oh, wait.

      Yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh,….. You might want to reexamine your reason for wanting to see the tax returns an established businessman (oops, “just” a reality TV star), and who told you that this is what is important, rather than his communist upbringing. Riiiiight.

    • Alan April 28, 2017, 11:47 am

      Did you really just lament Trump “turning the Presidency into an Oligarchy”?????
      Please, go educate yourself on why that can’t happen. I’ll give you a clue, the Judicial, and the Legislative branches.
      Hell man, Trump’s already having problems with the Judicial!
      And on that note, if it were possible, you should have been petrified by that prospect under Obama.

  • Dennis Schreiner April 28, 2017, 3:38 am

    i do not care about Trumps taxes, how much he mad,e or how much he paid. that is HIS business. not mine or anyone elses. i cant understand why ANYONE would care about someone elses business so much! worry about yourself.

    • Jim Miller April 28, 2017, 9:36 am

      Wholeheartedly agree…Bravo!

    • RobT April 28, 2017, 9:36 am

      Well because like everyone else has said and I will reiterate, potential conflicts of interest could hurt the country. I voted for him, by the way. His business ties are also unprecedented in the modern presidency making information on his INTERNATIONAL business all the more relevant to conflicts of interest. If Hillary had been elected and she refused to release her tax returns, we would be throwing verbal Molotov cocktails especially when it came to what the “Clinton Foundation” is doing, and no one can tell me thats not true. I think its the responsible thing to do for the country and to ease the minds of his employers…we the people 😉

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