Trump slams New York Times article on his taxes; NYC joins fraud inquiry

Oct. 3 (UPI) — President Donald Trump lashed out at the New York Times Wednesday, saying its article that accuses him and his family of tax fraud was a “very old, boring and often told hit piece on me.”

The article details how Trump’s father, Fred Trump, passed on $413 million to him while dodging taxes and setting up sham corporations. The article also accuses the Trumps of undervaluing their real estate holdings by hundreds of million of dollars on tax returns so the amount owed was lower when it was transferred to Trump and his siblings.

The New York Times reviewed more than 100,000 pages of financial documents, including bank statements, audits, cash disbursements and canceled checks.

Trump’s lawyer released a statement threatening a defamation lawsuit against the Times.

But reporter Susanne Craig, one of the writers who broke the story, said on Good Morning America Wednesday that she’s “not at all” concerned about a lawsuit. This started when Trump released his 2005 tax returns last year.

“We were struck to see that he made money that year,” Craig said. “It was such a juxtaposition from ten years earlier … he had logged a $1 billion loss. We started to just look at Fred Trump’s empire and from that we just kept going.”

The White House released a statement saying the IRS signed off on these transactions years ago.

The revelations prompted New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to order an investigation into tax and housing violations to see if Trump paid appropriate taxes. The city’s finance department will work with state officials, de Blasio tweeted.

The New York State Tax Department is investigating the allegations and will be “vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation.” But the statute of limitations could make criminal prosecution impossible, a law enforcement official said.

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