WikiLeaks Asks: Do You Want to See Secret Tax Returns of Donald Trump?
Now it appears that WikiLeaks wants to warn President Trump that depending on his future political behavior the secret information site can release his tax data.
By Rakesh Raman
Secret information service WikiLeaks has expressed its intentions to release the secret tax returns of the new U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Trump’s breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Hillary Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts,” WikiLeaks said, referring to Clinton’s speeches that WikiLeaks revealed to hit her chances of winning the November election.
Trump’s breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 22, 2017
Quoting Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway WikiLeaks said that Trump will not release his tax returns. But it asked people to send Trump’s tax information directly to WikiLeaks.
Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway stated today that Trump will not release his tax returns. Send them to: https://t.co/cLRcuIiQXz so we can.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 22, 2017
About a week ago, WikiLeaks had released the result of its survey – “What most needs to be leaked?” It had asked in the survey a question about Trump’s tax returns.
Surprisingly, only 13% survey respondents had urged WikiLeaks to bring Trump’s income tax returns in the public domain while this had been a burning topic during the entire election season.
But the site has decided to collect and release Trump’s tax documents. It could also be a veiled threat to Trump to get his support for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is imprisoned for the past over four years in the embassy of Ecuador in London.
Trump’s Tax Returns
Despite repeated demands from Democrats as well as Republicans, Trump has refused to release his tax returns. Many believe that Trump’s tax returns can reveal about his shady business deals with Russia and other entities in different parts of the world.
As he has been offering lame excuses about the delay in releasing returns, it is largely believed that he wants to hide something that can put his presidency in jeopardy.
As most Americans want to know about Trump’s businesses and financial status, on Monday a team of ethics lawyers filed a legal case against Trump, accusing him of accepting illegal payments for his businesses from foreign governments. The case also aims to seek Trump’s tax returns.
Although Trump claims that he runs profitable businesses, independent reports suggest that his businesses are under heavy debt.
According to a new report mentioned by The Independent, Trump’s companies are under a debt of nearly $1.8 billion to more than 150 institutions – raising questions about potential conflicts of interests. That’s why Trump is reluctant to reveal his tax information.
While WikiLeaks is now eager to release Trump’s tax data, it is assumed that the site has already obtained the documents secretly and it will release them if Trump failed to toe the line marked by Russia or WikiLeaks.
In this case also, the possibility of Russia’s involvement in supplying Trump’s tax documents to WikiLeaks cannot be ruled out, as it is being alleged that Russia had hacked the U.S. election-related data and given it to the site’s founder Julian Assange.
Now it appears that WikiLeaks wants to warn Trump that depending on his future political behavior the secret information site can release his tax data.
Therefore, these days, it can be seen that Trump has adopted a very friendly approach toward WikiLeaks and Russia.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government award-winning journalist and runs free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
