"(3) Other persons It shall be unlawful for any person to whom any return or return information (as defined in section 6103(b)) is disclosed in a manner unauthorized by this title thereafter willfully to print or publish in any manner not provided by law any such return or return information. Any violation of this paragraph shall be a felony punishable by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution." https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7213 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103
Wow. Another liberal media BOMBSHELL! It will be interesting to see how they twist this one into a scandal.
I would like to see Rachel and her whole crew scrutinized for legality in this Nothing Burger. Tax Returns are suppose to be confidential. It is illegal for the IRS to release them, illegal to steal them, illegal to pay for them when obtained by and unlawful act, and it sure as hell should be illegal to profit by disclosing them. She deserves more than criticism for a Nothing Burger.
It is worth noting that the only reason he paid that much (which, at 25% was still low for his tax bracket) was because of a tax that he has said he wants to abolish. Also worth noting that this was hardly a huge build up. Maddow tweeted about it about an hour in advance. Woo woo. What's of interest in this whole affair is who leaked it and with what motivation. Doesn't seem likely that it's someone hugely intent on damaging Trump, because, as you say, this isn't a big deal. It would almost make more sense that it's someone on his side. Because the obvious question is, if ALL his taxes are this comparatively innocuous, then why is he so insistent (that whole "under audit" bullshit) that they not be released? The other possibility is that somebody DOES wish him harm, but wants to blackmail him by releasing the tame stuff first, to let him know they've got it. That one seems a bit far-fetched, but I don't know what's reasonable and what's far-fetched any more.
Think about it: Trump has actually boasted that he could shoot someone in the street and his supporters wouldn't care. And we've had a page of his taxes released that showed that he lost A BILLION DOLLARS. And we've had the pussy-grabbing tape released. And still his little Trumpies think the sun shines out of his fat orange ass. So why won't he release his taxes? If they're like this, why not? Obvious suggestions: he's just not that rich. He gives nothing to charity, despite always having claimed to. And he does a shitload of business with Russia. He would deny all that, but refusing to release the taxes certainly adds fuel to the fire.
It was a convenient way to divert attention from their crimes against Real Americans. Most Presidents have not released.
If you're really interested, which very few people actually are, I dare you to read them. http://www.taxhistory.org/www/website.nsf/web/presidentialtaxreturns
But... but... but I was told that no one cares about taxes. Why would someone bother to steal them and put them on a website? Why would Maris bother to even post the link? He really doesn't care about taxes. I'm so confused right now.
