It’s finally happened. Donald Trump’s tax returns have been released. Well, at least one of them. President Trump did not release it himself, however. Rachel Maddow of the left-leaning news network MSNBC got ahold of the leaked tax return from 2005. Maddow received the return from investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, a tax expert. It is unknown who sent it to Johnston in the mail, but it’s thought by some that it was sent by the president himself.
People were excited to know about the leak before the show, when Maddow tweeted about it two hours prior. The tweet was shared 68,000 times before the show started at 9 pm. This excitement was helpful to her ratings, as well. The Rachel Maddow Show had the highest viewer count in eight years, an average of 2.62 million viewers.
The White House made a statement following Rachel Maddow’s tweet, stating that President Trump had paid $38 million from an annual income of more than $150 million, meaning that he paid the legal minimum. The data shows that his tax rate was 25%. The president also attacked MSNBC, saying that they were dishonest and desperate for ratings.
President Trump’s tax returns had been an issue for his entire campaign. They were sometimes used as a counterargument for Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Voters felt that both candidates had something to hide, and feared that Trump hadn’t paid taxes in more than twenty years. The new data shows otherwise; that he did pay a legal amount of tax (at least in 2005).
Here is what a White House spokesperson had to say.
“Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that. Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans (3).”
As you can see, there is some question on whether or not this leak was legal. Rachel Maddow argues that it was perfectly legal; that the First Amendment protects the rights and freedom of the press. The White House argues that the information leaked was private, and that the president has the right to keep it hidden from the public.
Image from The Rachel Maddow Show
Image from The Rachel Maddow Show