Latest 'bad financial news for Trump' could cause ex-president 'tremendous damage'
If Donald Trump ends up on the losing end of a recently reported tax scandal, the former president could be on the hook for $100 million, which would reportedly be financially devastating for the Republican presidential candidate.
Trump biographer David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump's taxes and financial matters for years, appeared on MSNBC on Saturday, where he was asked about recent news involving the former president's social media company that went public. Afterward, Johnston was also asked about a recent report that Trump was under audit after suspicions he defrauded the IRS of more than $100 million in a double-dipping scheme.
The host framed it as the latest "bad financial news for Trump."
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"Especially with his legal fees, can he afford that?" the host asked, referring to a loss of the audit battle. "What kind of damage could that do to him?"
"It would do tremendous damage to him," Johnston replied.
The writer then spilled some details about Trump's earlier IRS "cheating" scandal with similar themes.
"This is not the first time Donald has cheated this way by claiming deductions. He claims his Trump Tower hotel was worth nothing, essentially, and then put it into another company that he has and began depreciating the value of the company," he said. "Donald has fabricated more than five dozen businesses that don't exist and taken tax losses for them and he's been tried twice for income tax fraud, civil fraud, not criminal, and in both cases he lost."