Posted on 04/05/2023 3:12:50 PM PDT by Rummyfan
got in the habit of not reading it because clowns like this poster dont include it in the “Exerpt”.
What do you think they did?
Start with, why did SDNY decline to prosecute on the identical theory of the case, if Trump made inappropriate business deductions?
The point being, I still don't see where Cohen overpaid his NY State or Federal taxes.
And I don't see where Trump overpaid any taxes.
The IRS might challenge Trump regarding the payment and deduction of $180,000 for "unknown" or "unspecified" services rendered by Cohen, but I don't think they would get anywhere.
And it doesn't look like Cohen overpaid because any payment to Stormy Daniels wouldn't be a deductible expense to Cohen (if it was done on Trump's behalf).
I think Trump would have a hard time arguing that a payment to Daniels for an NDA (that looks like extortion by Daniels) would be tax deductible as a business expense. But I guess Trump could have argued that Daniels could damage his business brand if she spread her story (true or not) around...and that would make it a deductible expense.
Bottom line: This is not much of an issue for Alvin Bragg. Even the IRS would have had a hard time with it.
In fact, I'll bet the IRS went over this issue in an audit and concluded that there's no there, there.
Yeah the sequence of events is Cohen paid Daniels, and then Trump paid Cohen legal fees. The sequence is not the big deal.
The ‘big deal’ is that Trump got to write it all off as legal fees in that year. Technically, the payment for exclusive story rights would not be tax-deductible (or at least not fully tax deductible in a single year). It would be an asset purchase and I don’t know how you depreciate the value of story rights. If Trump wrote a comic book based on the story, he (or Cohen) could write off the payment against the profits from selling the comic book.
But there are several hurdles to jump through to make that “crime” stick. Cohen admits Trump never made the payment to Daniels so the premise that Trump tried to “interfere with an election” (which isn’t a crime in an of itself it seems) doesn’t wash. It was technically Cohen who did the interfering, but again not a crime I am aware of. It is a tax matter, an accounting matter, and if it sticks it’s barely a crime at all. It should result in a fine not 32 felony charges.
Good point about the payment arguably having to do with protecting the Trump brand, rather than about the election. Neither of which would be a crime as far as I know.
Agreed it is questionable from what I know about taxes. But if it was about the Trump real estate brand, then yeah I guess it could be considered the same write off as the people who wash the windows and polish the marble floors. And now it is complicated by the fact that she has to pay Trump legal fees (which Avenatti allegedly embezzled).
There was no guarantee he would win the election, in fact almost everyone thought he would lose. And his “brand” was damaged by that leaked audio anyway. Not sure if that came after or before the Daniels payment.
So when I read all the “BS” charges Trump is facing, still get overwhelmed anxious feelings!! (chews fingernails!)
That still doesn't address the issue of an overpayment of taxes as suggested in the article.
BTW, it wouldn't be a problem if Trump did know about it. People like Trump are forever being threatened by women who are trying to extort money with bogus claims.
Frankly, I can't imagine Trump, being the germophobe he is, would even shake hands with someone like Stormy Daniels. Trump, with his money and fear of germs, isn't going to mess around with second-hand merchandise. I know this from living in NYC for years when Trump was building his career. Everyone knew Trump was finicky. No drugs, no alcohol, no germs.
Technically speaking it wasn’t “hush money”. She wasn’t technically paid for her silence. She sold the exclusive story rights so she was not permitted to sell/tell the story to magazines or TV shows. Whether it was true or not. And this kind of deal is not totally unheard of. In showbiz people pay for exclusive rights pretty regularly.
The other side of that coin though is extortion. Assume the story is false or at least lacking in evidence, it is possible she made the assertion in order to extract a payoff - which she received. That would be a crime.
She threatened to defame, slander and libel PDJT and say that she had an affair with him, unless she was paid money.
Isn't this extortion?
Very interesting take. Thanks for commenting.
Also very interesting! Thx. -OGINJ
Thanks MS!
Very interesting, thx.
“The problem, you see, is “that Trump and his associates engaged in deception by paying New York state more in taxes than it was owed.”
That...BASTARD!
Know what else is a Class E Felony? Leaking information from a grand jury proceeding. If Bragg isn’t charged for his crime, it’s more proof that certain ppl ARE above the law.
could we say he was paying his “fair” share??
Trump’s company paid Cohen $130,000 plus $50,000 for other legal costs incurred. Then the office DOUBLED that $180,000 to cover the taxes, and then the CFO threw in another $60,000 as a bonus. Total received was $420,000 paid out over 12 months in $35,000 installments. None of the payments were made until after Trump was inaugurated in 2017.
Or were those other payments made for unrelated legal services rendered?
Do you have a source for that?
Conspiracy!
NY conspired with Trump to Steal Trump's refund!
If they are going to Toll the statute of limitations, Trump accountants should correct the paperwork and tax forms and file for a refund and do it in Court!
(Who does State AG Alphie Esq allege was harmed by this? Apparently not not the Taxpayers of NY!)
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