Michael Cohen, a former “fixer” for President Donald Trump, revealed why the president has adamantly refused to release his tax records despite ongoing demands for him to do so.
Cohen appeared on CNN’s “New Day” with Alyson Camerota where he was asked if he was aware of why Trump refuses to release his tax records.
“Michael, do you know what’s in Donald Trump’s taxes that he doesn’t want to reveal?” Camerota asked.
He immediately responded with an explanation as he highlighted multiple reasons why he believes Trump is fighting to conceal his tax records.
“Yea, the fact that he doesn’t report the income that he claims. His wealth is not as significant. And I believe that they were probably very lenient in how they took deductions,” Cohen said.
He continued, “His biggest fear is that, if in fact that tax return is released, that there’s a whole slew of organizations, of accountants, and forensic accountants that will rip through it, and he will end up with a massive tax bill, fraud, penalties, fines, and possibly even, you know, tax fraud.”
See Cohen’s remarks below:
Cohen’s remarks come amid Trump’s ongoing battle to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax returns. On September 1, a federal appeals panel granted Trump another reprieve to avoid the release of his tax returns.
According to Trump’s legal team, Judge Victor Marrero of Federal District Court in Manhattan had “given short shrift to their arguments that a subpoena seeking the tax returns was overly broad and amounted to political harassment,” The New York Times reports.
Trump’s recent appeal is the latest development in the ongoing legal battle which began in August 2019.
At the time, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm requesting the last eight years of personal and corporate tax returns.
The tax returns, along with Trump’s other financial records, were requested as part of a criminal investigation.
