Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth says wasn’t surprised by the New York Times’ lengthy report this week about President Trump and his family’s business dealings, saying the allegations are indicative of the family’s shady practices that have been going on for generations.
“This article basically proves the swindler doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Holdsworth, the chief revenue officer of DSPolitical,” told Hill.TV “Rising” co-hosts Krystal Ball and Ned Ryun on Friday.
“We have seen that, unfortunately, the Trump family through generations has been bilking America,” she added.
The New York Times published a detailed report on Tuesday, which found that Trump and his family engaged in “legally dubious” business practices, and criminal tax schemes in the 1990s. This included establishing a “sham” company used to hide gifts of millions of dollars and undervaluing properties.
A day after the report was released, New York state tax department officials told CNBC that they are now investigating the findings. The department is already looking into Trump’s charity, the Trump Foundation, which has been sued by The New York State attorney general’s office for “persistent illegality.”
The bombshell report didn’t go unnoticed in Washington, despite all of the controversy surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Finance Committee Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has urged the IRS to investigate the Times story.
“These media reports represent serious and credible allegations of potentially illegal tax fraud, based on extensive documentation,” Wyden wrote in a letter Wednesday to new IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
President Trump has denied the allegations, dismissing it as a “hit piece.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, downplayed the significance of the story, calling it a “misleading attack,” and said there are no plans for Trump to release his tax returns.
— Tess Bonn
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