Here Are Three Of Donald Trump’s Full Bankruptcy Filings

[highplainsdem]

Source: BuzzFeed

On Saturday, the New York Times published portions of Donald Trump’s tax returns showing that he declared a $916 million loss in 1995. Declaring such a huge loss could have allowed him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for a period of time, the Times reported.

But most of Trump’s finances are still shrouded in mystery. Unlike every other modern presidential candidate, he hasn’t released his tax returns. And his privately held companies aren’t compelled to release financial details.

One major exception to that veil of secrecy: In the early 1990s, Trump’s companies filed several major bankruptcies, and the massive court filings in those bankruptcies have been a key part of previous reporting on Trump’s finances.

But those files — totaling thousands of pages — have not been available online before today, though they have been pored over by reporters at a range of outlets. With Trump’s finances the source of intense speculation and interest a month before the election, BuzzFeed News is making them available in full for the first time.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kendalltaggart/here-are-donald-trumps-full-bankruptcy-filings

[groundloop]

1. Good for buzzfeed - the public needs to know about this leech and his many bankruptcies

Of course tRump will tell us that filing for bankruptcy is smart, that it's a normal part of doing business. To that I respond with one huge BULLSHIT. Bankruptcy is a means of legalized stealing for businesses. Creditors are screwed, employees are screwed, banks are screwed, and a few wealthy owners skate away with $Millions.

[PJMcK]

4. There's more to the story

Your response, groundloop, is correct but there's another perspective to consider. For Donald Trump, bankruptcy is a normal part of doing business. But with real successes, like Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Cuban, Steve Jobs and Carl Icahn, they haven't used bankruptcy as a part of their businesses.

Donald Trump is an idiot and now the whole world is going to get to see it.

[rivegauche]

7. THANK YOU! I am so frustrated

by people thinking that IDIOT is "smart" with 6 bankruptcies under his belt. And who knows how many more to come? His brand is total trash at this point, except for the deplorables and none of them can afford to stay in his gaudy hotels.

[William Seger]

2. It would be nice to know how much dismissed debt

... was part of the $916M Trump wrote off, which must have included a boatload of other peoples' money -- loans and private business shares. Then he got a personal tax advantage from their losses? Nice work if you can get it.

[PatSeg]

5. It appears that the $916 million

WAS other people's money. It was several business debts that he in turn personally guaranteed repayment so he could use it as a loss on his personal taxes. Of course, he had no intention of repaying the money, but it served to allow him to be tax free for years.

[rivegauche]

8. Such a devious scumbag. He is a lesson

on exactly how and why the 1% get away with so much, and how badly the system needs reform. His whole life has been nothing but scam after scam after scam.

[PatSeg]

11. Yes

It appears that if anything he ever did wasn't a scam, it was probably by accident. He seems to relish the thrill that comes with the con even if "honest and above board" would have been more profitable. I think he needs to feel like he got away with something in order to find satisfaction.

[rivegauche]

12. You absolutely nailed it.

I've thought all along that his whole campaign is nothing but an exercise for his massive ego. He wants to see if he can get away with it, and see how many suckers he can con. He's never given one shit about working people. NEVER cared about bettering anyone except himself. It is a joke, on a gigantic scale, and we are the butt of it.

[PatSeg]

13. Exactly

This would be his ultimate SCAM! Sadly for him, anything after this will be a major letdown. I hope this is the last we see of him for a long, long time, but I know that's not likely.

[Lucinda]

3. KNR

[ffr]

6. Is he under criminal investigations by the IRS

and that's why he cannot release his tax returns? Would make complete sense to me. Although, it's pretty damning that he continues to hide behind them even at this stage.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. An interesting statement at the end of the article

Notably the highlighted part -

Tim L. O’Brien, executive editor at Bloomberg View and author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, reported that Trump had a very different view of bankruptcy a decade ago. He “told me that he wanted to avoid bankruptcy at all costs because he felt that it would permanently taint him as a failure or a quitter,” O’Brien wrote.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kendalltaggart/here-are-donald-trumps-full-bankruptcy-filings?utm_term=.voogL71vX#.bnMWKw7ZM

For some reason I doubt that he was avoiding it due to any "taint". Some of the bankruptcy laws changed in 2005. I.e., the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

There was an interesting analysis of the eventual law's sausage-making process on DKos and how this law was eventually passed to screw the little guy but provide some modicum of protection to the Trumps of the world... However I am speculating that back "a decade ago" (around when that Bankruptcy bill passed), Trump may have been leery about what the final result of these changes would mean and ultimately tried to find another way to dump debt from any new failed ventures in order to avoid further bankruptcies (while continuing to write off the 1990s bankruptcies), and limiting or eliminating any liability from any new stuff.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. He loses money for his investors on every deal. But he makes it up in volume!