Business Genius: The NY Timespublished a blockbuster report last night based upon 10 years of President Trump’s tax information, detailing how he lost a billion dollars while claiming to be a business genius. The report covers the years 1985 to 1994.

  The paper reports that year after year Trump reported more losses than any other individual taxpayer. 

  The paper says, “The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.” The Times says that in 1990 and 1991 Trump’s losses were double those of any other taxpayer.

  The Timesreport does not include the six years of returns that House Democrats are demanding from the Treasury Department, but it gives an insight into the truth of Donald Trump’s financial life. The report also cautions that Times reporters did not see Trump’s actual tax returns, only information derived from them.

  The President has refused to reveal his returns, feeding speculation that he has something to hide. One of the theories is that after losing so much money and wearing out his credit in the US, he borrowed from Russians who have him in a headlock.

Trump World: Here’s what would have been the lead story otherwise:

  Stonewalling, tariffs, a stock slide, an FBI director who disagrees, and “nothing to see here, folks.” It was another turbulent day in Trump World.

  Stocks dropped nearly two percent as investors started to take seriously what appears to be the breakdown of trade talks with China and President Trump’s threat that he’s going to further raise tariffs on Chinese goods Friday.

  Companies that have huge business with China took the steepest dives; Caterpillar, John Deere and Boeing all dropped more than 4 percent.

  China has been a canny trading partner with the US, taking advantage of American hunger to get into the Chinese market and fleecing American companies in the process. Trump is playing tougher than any previous President, coming close to rolling the dice on the whole US economy. If he levels the field, it may become his biggest victory as President. Of course, he’ll claim a win no matter how it comes out.

  As Trump continues to stonewall House investigators, he ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn not to cooperate with a demand for documents.

  The current White House counsel told the House Judiciary Committee to ask the White House rather than McGahn for the documents. 

  It seems certain that the White House will refuse to hand over the documents. White House  counsel Pat Cipollonewrote in a letter to House Judiciary chair  Jerrold Nadler that “The White House provided these records to Mr. McGahn in connection with its cooperation with the special counsel’s investigation and with clear understanding that the records remain subject to the control of the White House for all purposes.” 

  Trump continues to claim that the FBI and the Obama administration “spied” on his 2016 campaign even though the FBI says it was investigating Russian election influencing. Attorney Gen. William Barr has made the same unfounded claim.

 Yesterday FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in front of Congress that “surveillance” is not the same as “spying.” If Trump gets re-elected, he’ll have a job and Wray won’t.

  Taking it all in, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that the Special Counsel report was a finding of “case closed.” He was speaking of whether Trump cooperated with Russians in 2016, not whether they attacked the election, which they clearly did.

  The man who once said he was determined to make Barack Obama a one-term President said, “Would the country finally unify to confront the real challenges before us? Or would we remain consumed by unhinged partisanship, and keep dividing ourselves to the point that Putin and his agents need only stand on the sidelines and watch as their job is done for them?”

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him. “We can’t impeach him for political reasons, and we can’t not impeach him for political reasons. We have to see where the facts take us.”

The Gunbeat:One 18-year-old man was killed and eight wounded, two seriously, in a mass shooting at a high school in Highlands ranch, Colo. Police said there were two shooters, one of them identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson,and a juvenile. Witnesses said several students tried to take down the shooters.

Foreign Affairs:Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday cancelled a meeting with Germany’s Angela Merkel and made an unannounced visit to Baghdad in the midst of rising tension in the Middle East. The US says Iran is positioning missiles that could be used against American forces in the region. About 5,000 US troops are based in Iraq.

 Over Taxed:TurboTax and H&R Block have made a huge business out of preparing the tax returns of bewildered Americans. Little known probably to most taxpayers is that the IRS has a simple and free online filing system.

  Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit claiming that the tax preparation companies have connived to discourage taxpayers from using the IRS system. He was moved in part by a report from ProPublica that only 3% of eligible taxpayers use Free File. 

  The LA Times’ Michael Hiltzik writes that, “The tax-preparation services have lobbied to hamstring competition from the IRS for years. It’s not hard to figure out why: Intuit reported revenue of $2.5 billion last year from TurboTax, and H&R Block reported $243 million from ‘DIY tax preparation,’ including its software programs.”

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