President Trump’s self-declared business savvy suffered recently when a New York Times article deduced he lost over a billion dollars in a decade. His losses in the late 80s through the mid 90s were enough that the real estate mogul avoided paying taxes.
Oregon’s Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio says the Times’ review of available tax documentation dispels much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric. But he says there’s still a need for the president’s tax returns.
“A lot of his grand success obviously is a myth," DeFazio tells KLCC. "He’s a huckster, salesman, grifter, whatever you want to call him. We need his federal returns.
"Because the critical thing is not what a bad businessman he is, the critical thing is, who bailed him out? And who is he beholden to?”
DeFazio says at one point, Deutsche Bank was the only bank that would lend to Trump. He says it’s worth investigating if there was any channeling of Russian money.
Meanwhile, Trump says real estate losses were common at the time, and calls the article “a highly inaccurate fake news hit job.”
Copyright 2019, KLCC.
