Posted on 05/12/2017 2:25:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
“With few exceptions”? It’s that last caveat that amused many on social media when NBC reported on a declaration from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Donald Trump’s tax attorneys for the past twelve years. Charles Murray scored the best response on Twitter, joking that “I’ve loved my visits to Middlebury, with few exceptions.”
However, the letter does explicitly state the exceptions, which are pretty minor:
NEW: NBC News obtains copy of Trump tax lawyers' letter re: any Russian investments reported on US federal tax returns. pic.twitter.com/XEIPyThxTm
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 12, 2017
Supposedly, the big issue behind both the push for Trump’s tax returns and the threat that he’s being co-opted by the Kremlin is that Trump has hidden business interests in Russia. According to his attorneys, that’s not the case. He has no debt to Russian interests, nor does Trump serve as a creditor to Russian interests. He derived no income from Russian sources either, with these exceptions:
The final exception can’t really be quantified, except perhaps through an exhaustive search of credit card receipts, but that’s pretty pointless anyway. The issue in this case is influence, and selling mattresses in Moscow or neckties in Novosibirsk is immaterial to influence. Neither of the two business transactions cited as exceptions provide any continuing financial relationship to Russian interests, and especially not the Russian government.
The next question, of course, is this: can the letter be trusted? The White House asked for the letter in response to a request from Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to the Associated Press, as part of the investigation into the Russia-influence probe. The letter apparently is in lieu of access to Trump’s tax returns, which is not going to satisfy critics of Trump, to say the least. It also does not suggest that Trump’s willing to waive attorney-client privilege; the letter is addressed to Trump, generated on his request, and not to any other entity, appropriately so for maintaining that privilege. Would Trump allow the committee to depose the attorneys for the investigation? I suspect the answer would be no, especially with Trump’s perpetual IRS audit as additional context.
It’s a credible response to the speculation about Trump’s business interests, but it’s not likely to be accepted as definitive. Either Trump will need to grant the committee access to his returns to put the rumors to rest once and for all, or he’ll have to learn to live with them. Bet on the latter.
Update: Tax attorney Wendy Thurm has some reservations about this “carefully crafted letter”:
Term "Russian" isn't defined. Letter uses present tense in describing "no debt owed" to Russians. Doesn't say TTO never had such debt.
— Wendy Thurm (@hangingsliders) May 12, 2017
Possibility still exists there were shell corps registered elsewhere financed with Russian $$ or deals with Russians now living in US.
— Wendy Thurm (@hangingsliders) May 12, 2017
Perhaps, but the issue at hand is influence in the present tense, too. This does demonstrate the point I made above, though, which is that any testimonial without actual testimony and/or access to the returns themselves won’t settle the question, at least politically.
Since this doesn't address that, they must be hiding the concrete sales.
I thought it was all spun off to the kids?
RE: Cruz was looking for Mob connections...
Where does it say that in the article?
That’s what he was saying during his campaign. I’m just playing the part of the media...
RE: That’s what he was saying during his campaign. I’m just playing the part of the media..
I guess everytime there’s an article about Cruz, we should mention Trump’s accusation of his father’s participation in the assassination of JFK. Par for the course.
Meanwhile, Democrat Senator Mark Warner actually got PAID big bucks from Russia in 2012..anyone in the press want to ask him about that
When the’Rats gets that beady eyed look they are guilty, guilty, guilty ...RICo, RICo, RiCo...
I’ve been faithful to my wife......with a few exceptions.
The exceptions are then immediately listed, so the bozos who are trying to make fun of the phrase are merely trading on the fact that few people will ever bother to read the letter. The information is ALL there.
More #FakeNews from the MSM scumbags.
So list the exceptions like Trump's accountants did.
Morgan Lewis is a top tier law firm who would not likely risk their hard earned reputation misrepresenting facts to congress.
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