The former president's niece, Mary Trump, had a ton of Trump's private and confidential financial records including tax returns. She got them during another lawsuit, one she filed against her uncle from whom she is estranged, alleging he defrauded her of rightful inheritance following the death of her father Fred Trump Jr. She later passed much of that to the New York Times which published a damning analysis of Trump's financial dealings and elaborate schemes at tax avoidance, and arguably tax evasion. It is pretty common knowledge that Donald Trump is a one man full employment program for lawyers. And it is also well known that he uses lawsuits and the threat of suits to browbeat his enemies. His deep pockets means he can often cow critics and those with whom he has had business dealings that went bad by the simple fact that he can throw money away on lawyers and lengthy litigation, even if frivolous or patently designed to intimidate, that his opponents can't. And he has been very successful using these kinds of bare knuckled tactics in the past.
But, according to the below linked legal analysis, Trump may actually have a case against his niece, although it is unlikely the Times is in any legal jeopardy.
3 comments:
Sounds to me like his niece is cut from the same cloth. Obtaining a tranche of financial information by way of a lawsuit, then handing it all over to a hostile periodical sounds like she knows how to fight dirty.
My dad, who worked in the financial services sector, often noted that family quarrels can be really bad, and the absolutely worst were monetary. He said he had seen families torn apart by feuds over money.
Right, John. If you want to see real anger, be there when the will is read.
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