The Laughable Pivot Some in the Media Are Taking Over Trump's Tax Returns

Matt Vespa reporting for Townhall

They have wanted these sensitive documents for years. Donald Trump’s tax returns have been viewed as the Holy Grail of scandal for the Left. It’s the smoking gun they’ve lusted for, and now they came into possession of these documents after a lengthy legal battle between Trump’s lawyers and House Democrats. The Supreme Court failed to intervene after multiple lower courts had ruled against the former president regarding keeping these files under seal.

Spencer wrote about it first—and it was a nothing burger. It might have been an even bigger dud than the Russian collusion hoax. Trump’s tax returns from 2015-2020 showed what we all knew about the former president: he got poorer being president. The cost to his real estate and business empire is not a secret. Trump often joked that he could be doing something other than dealing with Democratic Party attacks and liberal media lies but wanted to save the country.

The liberal obsession with Trump’s tax returns did lead to media leaks. The New York Times and other outlets obtained past returns, with the Times proceeding to write lengthy exposes that no one read. It also found no ties to Russia, which further torched the collusion delusion that engulfed progressive America.

Now, with no evidence of felonious activity, the Times is pivoting to say that the latest trove of returns, the big reveal, showed that the former president’s business prowess isn’t what was advertised (via NYT):

House Democrats released six years of former President Donald J. Trump’s tax records on Friday, offering new insight into his business dealings that further undermined his long-cultivated image as a wildly successful businessman. 

The release on Friday morning contained thousands of pages of tax documents, including individual returns for Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, as well as business returns for several of the hundreds of companies that make up his sprawling business organization. It followed the release of reports from Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee that showed Mr. Trump had paid a total of $1.1 million in federal income taxes in the first three years of his presidency, but paid no tax in 2020 as his income dwindled and losses mounted. 

The document disclosure drew rebukes and threats of retaliation from Mr. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, who suggested that once their party takes over the House on Jan. 3, they may seek to disclose tax returns filed by Democratic politicians, Supreme Court justices and members of President Biden’s family, such as his son Hunter. 

The documents appeared to show that Mr. Trump violated his campaign promise to donate his salary as president, at least in 2020, when he reported no charitable giving of any kind. They also suggested Mr. Trump’s tax bill may have gone up because of a change in his signature 2017 tax overhaul: a limitation on the deduction of state and local taxes paid. 

[…] 

But the returns, which cover the tax years 2015 through 2020, do not show much success for Mr. Trump in his recent business dealings. They show Mr. Trump often reported heavy losses from his own ventures, even as he continued to cash in on assets he inherited.

You must roll over laughing over this because no one cares. There are buildings named after the president—everyone knows who this man is, so disclosing these little documents couldn’t have less significance to roughly half the country, especially Trump’s die-hard supporters. I didn’t see many liberals get excited about these records, at least regarding whether this could lead to criminal charges. Liberals thought they had Trump on Russian collusion, Ukrainian quid pro quo, January 6, and his tax returns—and ended up getting nothing out of it. Trump beat both impeachment attempts handily, he won’t be charged over a riot on Capitol Hill, and he’s running for president again. Even the FBI’s illegal raid on Mar-a-Lago revealed nothing concerning allegations that the former president mishandled classified information. The release of these documents was the most anti-climactic unveiling of all time. It certainly might be the limpest anti-Trump attack.

We’ve gone from ‘Trump is a sexual predator to he’s a Kremlin agent to he’s a tax cheat,’ and now—he’s not a good businessman.

Oh my—indict him now.