Tax Offence: Trump Blasts The New York Times, Says It’s ‘Phony’ And ‘Fake’

Donald Trump on Sunday labeled The New York Times report that he paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 as ‘phony and fake’.   

Documents show the president paid no income tax in 10 out of the previous 15 years, according to a report by the paper.

He is said to have reported losing more money than he made.

Trump has previously blasted the long-running quest for his financial records as a ‘continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country’.

The businessman is the only modern president who has refused to release his tax returns. Before he was elected, he had promised to do so.

Data obtained by The Times does not include his his 2018 and 2019 personal returns.

Trump’s lawyer Alan Garten, said that ‘most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate’. He added: ‘Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.’

READ MORE: Trump Paid ‘NO Income Tax In 10 YEARS’, Report Says

The disclosure, which the Times said comes from tax return data it obtained extending over two decades, comes at a pivotal moment ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday, and weeks before a divisive election.

A federal appeals court on Friday tested the waters on a potential compromise, but didn’t immediately rule, after arguments in Trump’s long-running fight to prevent a top New York prosecutor from getting his tax returns.

Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, signaled they will be satisfied only if Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is barred from getting all of the requested records.

His lawyers maintain that the subpoena seeking eight years of the president’s corporate and personal tax returns amounts to a ‘fishing expedition’ and that Trump should be afforded the same protections as ordinary citizens in the same situation.

They argued that aside from acknowledging an inquiry into money paid to two women who alleged affairs with Trump, Vance’s office hasn’t specified why it needs such a vast collection of his financial records.

Vance, a Democrat, began seeking the Republican president’s tax returns from his longtime accounting firm over a year ago, after Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress that the president had misled tax officials, insurers and business associates about the value of his assets.