I’m uncertain how to best characterize the Rachel Maddow-David Cay Johnston 2005 tax form story. It was hyped as a bombshell but was greeted as if it were a dud or damp squib. I missed the build-up on social media so I’m sort of in the middle: we learned a few things but it didn’t live up to the advance hype about tax forms plural. The most interesting thing was Johnston’s speculation that Donald may have leaked the form itself. Otherwise it was all sizzle and no steak; not even a overcooked Trumpian steak with ketchup slathered all over it.
The main reason people are so disappointed is that they’re hoping for a magic, nay a silver bullet to slay the monster. This is real life, not fantasy fiction. The Insult Comedian’s downfall won’t be caused by an hour-long cable news program. It’s not “fake news” but it’s not a major breakthrough either. If Trump is brought down by his cartoon villain corruption, it will be by the accumulated weight of his criminality, not by one year’s 1040. As Slate’s Willa Paskin put it, Rachel “had the goods but oversold them.” Believe me.
Since we all have the 1040 Blues, I’ll give Robert Cray the last word:
Agree with Johnson (and, gag, Joe Scarborough) — probably deliberate on the part of Team Trump. Distracts from the latest dumpster fires, let’s them pretend they’ve come clean…and might even give them a chance to ridicule Rachel Maddow. That wouldn’t surprise me too much: Maddow and MSNBC are getting decent ratings and decent press about the decent ratings. Team Trump is petty enough to look for a way to undercut that…
I’m gonna defend Rachel. She put out a tweet saying she had tax returns, then another clarifying that it was one, from 2005. I saw no other hype other than Chris mentioning on his show. Other people ran with it and are blaming her for the hype.
I too agree he released it. The whole CLIENT COPY stamped on it and all. Plus the positive light it puts on his paying taxes. Also, hey look, shiny thing.
The idea that President Trump leaked this himself is intriguing; I believe the 2005 return was the first one filed jointly with latest wife Melania (they got married January 22, 2005). The Trumps probably wanted it to be squeaky clean so as not to attract any attention from, let’s just say, the immigration authorities that might endanger Melania’s residency here as a new immigrant.
I’m not saying this definitively proves one way or the other that Trump personally leaked this particular year’s return, but the coincidence shouldn’t be overlooked.
The problem is that when you say you have tax returns, plural, people expect 1) full returns, from 2) multiple years. That’s the one legit complaint I can think you can level at her; the rest is more or less quibbling. But I’ll have more to say about it at my place tonight.
found the one return that looks like he paid more.