George Will says Trump won’t release tax returns because they show his ties to Russian oligarchs

[DonViejo]

-snip-

The Fox News contributor and conservative columnist, who left the Republican Party last month because he couldn’t support Trump, said Monday night that he believes the GOP’s nominee may have improper relationships with foreign investors, reported The Hill.

Russian agents are accused of hacking into the Democratic National Committee’s email servers and sharing private data, possibly to help Trump win the November election, which has underscored concerns about his campaign’s ties to the former Soviet Union.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Will about those concerns, although he pointed out that even Democratic lawmakers have not drawn a direct link between Trump and Russia.

“Well, it’s the sort of thing we might learn if we saw the candidates’ tax returns,” Will said. “Perhaps one more reason why we’re not seeing his tax returns, because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russia oligarchs and others. Whether that’s good, bad or indifferent, it’s probably the reasonable surmise.”

-snip-

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/george-will-trump-wont-release-tax-returns-because-they-show-his-ties-to-russian-oligarchs/

[apcalc]

1. George Will ( and others) might be onto something....

[Hekate]

2. George Will is very likely right. But watch the media and the American Left continue to...

...chase the latest shiny object about Hillary and the DNC and ignore the actual crimes behind the magic curtain of the Trump campaign.

[get the red out]

52. Absolutely!

I have been wondering since yesterday why the possible Trump- Russian connection isn't a bigger story!

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Proper or improper, I thought it was common knowledge that...

since he's blacklisted by most Western banks, he gets his loans from Russia.

Last number I heard was he's $680 million in hock to Putin's buddies.

[Blue Idaho]

24. News to me...

That I did not know - so than you!

[emulatorloo]

36. Article from TPM about all of that financial stuff here:

Trump & Putin. Yes, It's Really a Thing- Josh Marshall
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2281795

Pretty shocking stuff.

[Blue Idaho]

38. Thank You Very Much!

I really appreciate the link!

[emulatorloo]

40. My pleasure!

[TreasonousBastard]

32. Just keep talking about Komrade Trump owned by the Kremlin and...

put it on him to deny and explain.

They do that to us all the time-- many, if not most, most of the complaints against Hillary have no basis in fact and yet they still exist.

I forget the exact quotes, but Lyndon Johnson once said about an opponent "Start a rumor he has sex with his daughter."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. I just want to see him squirm denying it."

[meow2u3]

50. In Komrade Trumpski's case, it just might be true

I forget the exact quotes, but Lyndon Johnson once said about an opponent "Start a rumor he has sex with his daughter."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. I just want to see him squirm denying it."

[politicaljunkie41910]

37. Some one mentioned that last night during the DNC convention. That because of his past

bankrupcies, (American or Western don't recall which) banks won't loan him any money and he has borrowed from Russian banks. I think the American public should have the right to know whether a U.S. Presidential nominee is in debt to the Kremlin. This is something the media should be all over. They had to have heard it, and it could affect our national security.

[Else You Are Mad]

4. There is a reason why people in deep debt...

Cannot get certain security clearances. The government is correctly afraid that they could be easily bribed and taken advantage of because of their financial turmoil.

I don't think for one second that if Trump is president that he wouldn't give aid to Russia if some of his Russian owned debt is forgiven.

[glennward]

14. Can Trump actually get a security clearance based on his credit behavior? nt

[Else You Are Mad]

15. That is a good question.

I had a client that was late on his mortgage and near foreclosure and was worried he would lose his clearance -- and the client was just a low level FBI agent.

I don't think anyone with his awful credit history ever got to the point where they even were considered to get clearance. That said, he would be president so that may be a special circumstance.

Let's make sure that we don't ever have to find out.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. I've read that Trump was due to start getting Security Briefings yesterday. . . nt

[Gothmog]

5. George will may be correct

[sofa king]

8. Now that he's reading Talking Points Memo, he is!

Josh Marshall's grand-slam touched all the bases this weekend, and I'm sure George Will saw it, for once:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-russia-connections

Trump's tax returns would likely clarify the depth of his connections to and dependence on Russian capital aligned with Putin. And in case you're keeping score at home: no, that's not reassuring.

[FSogol]

9. That would be a first for Will.

[RonniePudding]

12. He's been virulently anti Trump all year

I'm not surprised he is in to writing about the Manchurian Candidate the other party has just nominated. The more voices that speak to this the better no matter where they're coming from IMO.

That being said I get a bit of a washed up vibe on will as far as how conservatives view him.

[FSogol]

13. I'm glad, but George Will and his support of Reagan & the Bushes, put the GOP on the path to Trump.

Trump is just a cruder, more vulgar version of Reagan.

[RonniePudding]

16. I don't disagree

Though I think Trump is true national security threat. When I say Manchurian Candidate I don't mean it as satire.

Reagans faults in my view were more oriented toward his domestic policies that decimated our middle class and poor while boosting the rich.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Will has changed his registration from R to I and announced it on TV. . . . nt

[NewJeffCT]

22. he used to be pretty good

when he wrote about baseball.

And, in the 80s and 90s, I at least thought he had some intellectually based arguments when I saw him on TV with Sam Donaldson and they discussed politics. He was wrong, but at least he didn't just spew Frank Luntz approved talking points all the time like almost all the GOP has done for the past 20 years or so.

[Orsino]

6. They will show he has less money than he inherited.

That's what Trump fears more than exposure of the Russian connections.

[NewJeffCT]

23. you mean he's lying about his HUGE

wealth?



what, you thought I was going to say something else?

[Orsino]

58. I reckon.

Absolutely everything else he says about himself is a lie or a tremendous exaggeration. I wonder why we seem so ready to call him a billionaire. He claims to be worth ten times that, so I assume that the truth would be measured in hundreds of millions at most. Years-old comments from thosr who might know and Trump's excessive secrecy about taxes strongly suggest he has less than he inherited.

Turning hundreds of millions into billions is trivially easy in modern America. If he's actually lost money overall, his whole guise as a brilluant or even successful businessman collapses.

I mean, come on. Trump steaks? He's small time, and any serious scrutiny will prove it.

[NewJeffCT]

59. I think you're right

just about everything he has claimed has turned out to be a "pants on fire" level lie, or a gross exaggeration. I like that some have started calling him the "alleged" billionaire now. Even Mark Cuban scoffs at his wealth, thinking that the Clintons probably have made more money than him.

[Orsino]

60. It's likely to be an effective attack...

...since his being rich is the "qualification" on which his entire image is founded.

[zenabby]

7. True or not

Someone needs to do this so that the truth can come out. Remember when Harry Reid said Mitt Romney had not paid a dollar in taxes. Romney had to show his tax returns to prove it was false, otherwise, it stuck as true. I think sometimes this forces people to show their taxes.

[blue neen]

10. There are probably all sorts of interesting things in Trump's tax returns.

It's actually painful to say that George Will may be right, but he could be on to something here.

[MineralMan]

11. Could be, but there are all sorts of other reasons he

might be hiding his tax returns. I have no idea, really, but there's obviously something in them that would sidetrack his campaign. Calls for their release should continue, and from all sides.

[tallahasseedem]

19. I don't think that's the only reason...

I think it will show he's not worth what he says he is...there could be other links to other governments as well.

We seriously need to hammer it all the time. I say that Hillary should even bring it up during a debate.

[TexasBushwhacker]

49. I agree

I think he's not worth as much as he says and that he pays little or no taxes. But publicizing the Russian connections won't play well with his base.

[Capt. Obvious]

20. This is way better than the speculation on why Romney wasn't releasing his returns

[workinclasszero]

21. Wow!!!

How can Trump get away with not releasing his tax records anyway?

[NewJeffCT]

25. He shouldn't be able to get away with it

If a Democrat had done that, it would be headline news on Fox every night ("Day 22 since Candidate Clinton refused to release her tax returns. Should she be disqualified?&quot

And, once it makes the rounds on Fox, it trickles down to CNN, CNBC and the "mainstream" outlets.

[workinclasszero]

30. No doubt

And the MSM doesn't mention it, too busy with email BS and BoBers!

[treestar]

33. Exactly

[Cosmocat]

47. YEP!

nm

[Eleanors38]

29. He could sit on his taxes and his supporters won't give a shit. This is sport to them.

[workinclasszero]

31. Yeah their candidate can sell out america to the russians

And they are all good with it.

[bucolic_frolic]

44. Exactly

has to be. Look what's on the GOP Platform 2016.
Land grab. Federal lands and national parks to the states.
Percolating in Congress and several state legislatures too.

Mining, timber, oil, gas, fracking, development, hotels, shopping malls galore.

Finance with Russian loans. Trade assets for cash. Doing it all for you, the citizen!

The lesson of WWII is how international capitalists invested anywhere they could make
a buck. They weren't unpatriotic, patriotism just wasn't relevant to their greed.

Global capitalists have more in common with each other than they do with ordinary
Americans.

[get the red out]

53. It is sport!

That's a good way to put it. A lot of the right seems to like Putin too much anyway.

[Eleanors38]

54. It's the equivalent of "going hippy," or "getting your hippy on"....

Those expressions floated around 45 - 50 yrs ago to denote the counter-culture youth who grew long hair, hung around in crash pads, smoked dope, and played guitars badly. It's the FR's answer, and they are as likely to squirt on the carpet and flash a peace sign (or middle finger).

[Cryptoad]

26. Maybe,,,, but i would put my money on,,,,

he pays less taxes than the majority of hard working folk.

[Cosmocat]

48. You can put your money on either

and be correct, and there probably are are few other pfb things they would show.

[FighttheFuture]

27. A very reasonable surmise!!! Democrats need to start wondering... on-air, on camera!

Just like Romney would not release his tax returns form before 2010 because he likely paid no taxes and also probably took advantage of the Tax Forgiveness program to come in report your overseas stash, and pay your taxes without penalty.

what is Trump hiding.... hmmm....

[Dem2]

34. Entertaining story anyway

At minimum

[Motley13]

35. Lets see if the maggot sues him

suer in chief/ sewer in chief

[Jarqui]

39. I doubt that's it

I think they'd reveal he isn't worth nearly as much money as he says he is and that he's used every trick in the book and then some to avoid paying taxes to an embarrassing level.

[matt819]

41. Hillary's returns

I know that Hillary has released returns through 2014.

I think she should refuse to release 2015 until Trump releases his returns. Let the media's collective heads explode when they complain about that while they give Trump a pass.

[calimary]

42. WHOA! This is getting real.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo is on it...

Over the last year there has been a recurrent refrain about the seeming bromance between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. More seriously, but relatedly, many believe Trump is an admirer and would-be emulator of Putin's increasingly autocratic and illiberal rule. But there's quite a bit more to the story. At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties. There is also something between a non-trivial and a substantial amount of evidence suggesting Putin-backed financial support for Trump or a non-tacit alliance between the two men.

(snip)

Let's start with the basic facts. There is a lot of Russian money flowing into Trump's coffers and he is conspicuously solicitous of Russian foreign policy priorities.

I'll list off some facts.

1. All the other discussions of Trump's finances aside, his debt load has grown dramatically over the last year, from $350 million to $630 million. This is in just one year while his liquid assets have also decreased. Trump has been blackballed by all major US banks.
(The bold part is my emphasis.)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing


And Charles Pierce weighed in, too.

In brief: In his business dealings, He, Trump seems increasingly dependent on money from Russia and from the former Soviet republics within its increasingly active sphere of influence. This is because most of the big banks on this side of the pond won't go near him without HazMat suits.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a46984/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/

[world wide wally]

43. I think a Dem legislator should introduce a bill about a Presidential candidates date not being

allowed to be beholden to foreign investors. This would at least rattle the cage and bring Trump's activities and tax returns to the forefront.

[dhill926]

45. would love to see Senator Warren...

start to hammer away at this. Relentlessly...Trump would crack...

[Jopin Klobe]

46. Proof yet again ...

... that, when cornered, feral rats will resort to cannibalism ...

[MFM008]

51. Making Russia Great Again

That's rump.

[uponit7771]

55. +1

[Bill USA]

56. this is from George Will????? Wow!

[msanthrope]

57. I'm agreeing with George Will. I gotta sit the fuck down. nt