A document that MSNBC host Rachel Maddow claims is part of the president’s 2005 tax return appears to have pushed the White House to release some details on Donald Trump’s taxes.
The White House says President Donald Trump made more than $150 million in income in 2005 and paid $38 million in income taxes that year.
Key developments:
- Trump has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns.
- MSNBC said it obtained the president's 1040 Individual Income Tax Return form from 2005.
- No other national news outlets have reported on obtaining that form.
- The White House released a statement moments before Maddow's cable channel show.
- Trump's 2005 returns show that he paid an effective tax rate of roughly 25 percent on $150 million.
- Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston received the form and talked on Maddow's show about it on Tuesday night.
- Cay reported that the 2005 form revealed that if the alternative minimum tax (AMT) didn't exist, Trump would have paid less than 3.5 percent in taxes rather than nearly 25 percent.
Maddow took to Twitter on Tuesday night to announce her show obtained the form. During her show, she said the 1040 forms from 2005 were turned over to Daily Beast columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston.
Maddow said someone leaked Johnston and his nonprofit news organization DCReport the documents.
In anticipation of the report, the White House released a statement that said in part, "You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about 2 pages of tax returns."
That statement disclosed that Trump paid $38 million in taxes on income of $150 million in 2005.
The White House added that it is "totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns" and is bashing the "dishonest media." Maddow cited the first amendment in her show being able to legally publish the returns.
Maddow spoke for 15 minutes before revealing the form, sharing her questions related to possible unexplained income with a foreign origin and worries about national security.
Johnston started their interview on the form by speculating who leaked the document.
"Donald has a long history of leaking material about himself when he thinks it's in his interest," he said. "It could have been leaked by someone in his direction."
"Client copy" appears to be stamped in the signature box in the digital version of the form released by MSNBC after Maddow's show.
The 2005 form revealed that if the alternative minimum tax (AMT) didn't exist, Trump would have paid less than 3.5 percent in taxes in 2005, according to Cay. Trump wants to eliminate the AMT, which was meant to assure the rich don't avoid paying their fair share. CNBC reports it now impacts more than 4 million taxpayers a year.
Trump's 2005 returns show that he paid an effective tax rate of roughly 25 percent on $150 million.
The president's returns have been a sticking point for many people on either side of the political aisle.
Every president since 1976 has released his tax returns. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump refused to make his filings public, saying they were under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and he would release them only once that review is complete.
Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway
that Trump would not release his tax returns.
"He's not going to release his tax returns,” Conway said on ABC's "This Week in January." “We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care.”
Her comments came after a
garnered the necessary 100,000 signatures within 30 days to garner an official’s response.
There is no rule barring Trump from releasing his tax returns while he is under audit. It is not clear whether the documents will be released.
Cox Media Group
