Day 839

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

1/ Trump asserted executive privilege over Robert Mueller's full, unredacted report. Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department advised Trump to make a "protective assertion of executive privilege" in response to Democratic plans to hold Barr in contempt of Congress over his refusal to turn over Mueller's report or underlying materials to Congress. The move will not have a direct impact on possible testimony from Mueller, but it could limit the scope of what he can say by putting some subjects off limits. The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday to hold Barr in contempt for not complying with a congressional subpoena. (ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / CNN)

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/05/08/day-839/

[anon95374541]

@matt

Trump defended his “tax shelter” tactics on Twitter, calling it a “sport” to “show losses for tax purposes. […] Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”

The New York Times actually covers this argument preemptively in the article.

On Saturday, after further inquiries from The Times, a lawyer for the president, Charles J. Harder, wrote that the tax information was “demonstrably false,” and that the paper’s statements “about the president’s tax returns and business from 30 years ago are highly inaccurate.” He cited no specific errors, but on Tuesday added that “I.R.S. transcripts, particularly before the days of electronic filing, are notoriously inaccurate” and “would not be able to provide a reasonable picture of any taxpayer’s return.”

Ok but then NYT cites,

Mark J. Mazur, a former director of research, analysis and statistics at the I.R.S., said that, far from being considered unreliable, data used to create such transcripts had undergone quality control for decades and had been used to analyze economic trends and set national policy. In addition, I.R.S. auditors often refer to the transcripts as “handy” summaries of tax returns, said Mr. Mazur, now director of the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.

Guess the WH didn’t read the article.

[Keaton_James]

In rare move, House panel votes to hold AG Barr in contempt over Mueller report

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over an unredacted version of the Russia report after an acrimonious session underscoring the country’s widening political divide.

The rare rebuke approved by a party-line vote of 24-16 after five and a half hours of debate triggered a new escalation of tensions between the Trump administration and House Democrats pressing for a deeper examination of the president and his outside business empire.

[anon95374541]

@Keaton_James

@Keaton_James

President Donald Trump has acknowledged taking massive tax write offs for real estate losses topping $1 billion from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, calling it ‘sport’ among developers like himself during that period.

[Keaton_James]

New York Senate advances bill to allow state charges despite presidential pardon

to the state of New York and NY state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (author of this bill).

This legislation will close a loophole that would have allowed anyone Trump pardons for federal crimes to escape conviction at the state level (where Trump cannot pardon). This is important for two reasons: 1) Now justice can be served even if Trump wields his pardon power to subvert it. 2) Witnesses who have committed crimes with Trump will have more incentive to cut a deal and confess what they know – this is because they can no longer count on a pardon from Trump keeping them out of prison.

The New York Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow state prosecutors to pursue charges in some instances in which a person received a presidential pardon.

Under the legislation, “a prosecution is not considered to have occurred if a person has been granted a reprieve, pardon, or other form of clemency for the offense by the President,” and other conditions are met.

“The rule of law matters & the pardon power should not be perverted to undermine it,” tweeted state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D), who introduced the bill.

Todd Kaminsky (toddkaminsky)

According to The Associated Press, the bill was created to get rid of a loophole that would make it more difficult to prosecute someone who had received a pardon.

The bill still must complete several more steps before becoming law, but since NY state government is solidly Democratic, there’s every reason to believe this “pardon loophole” will soon be closed.

[dragonfly9]

Moving more towards crisis first, the impeachment looks like…we are in unchartered waters here.

Philip Rucker (PhilipRucker)

[Keaton_James]

@anon95374541

Trump defended his “tax shelter” tactics on Twitter, calling it a “sport”

As per usual, Trump has made things much worse for himself by shooting himself in the foot – this time by calling tax dodging a “sport.” Was he just bending the rules or outright committing criminal acts of tax fraud? Here’s an example of a headline from the most widely read newspaper in Kansas, a state Trump carried by 57%.

https://www.kansas.com/news/business/article230156554.html

I imagine that the millions of hard working Americans in Kansas feel much like I do when they sit down to calculate and then pay their taxes – it’s a painful experience, but we do it because the law requires it and because we are patriotic Americans. We hardly consider it a “sport.” Only a con man who laughs in the face of the law would call it that. How many times does Trump need to say things like this before his base wakes up and realizes he is robbing them (anyone who defrauds the IRS is stealing money from all the people who paid their lawful share)?

Trump also said he always “wanted” to show losses. Yes, don’t we all “want” to show losses so we won’t have to pay taxes, but instead we tell the truth and pay our taxes, unlike our President.

Today, once again, Trump was bragging about spending millions to pander to a segment of his base (this time in Florida). Well, Mr. Trump, I paid for a portion of that money you’re dolling out – how much did you contribute? Until you show us your taxes, I’m going to assume it was zip.