Welcome to McClatchy’s Voter Survival Guide, an interactive presentation of daily events from one of the strangest presidential campaigns in modern history.
Donald Trump has yet to release his tax returns, but after declaring nearly $1 billion in losses in 1995 it is possible the Republican nominee for president has not paid income taxes for 18 years.
The campaign responded to a New York Times story in a statement where they did not challenge or confirm the $916 million in losses that Trump declared.
“Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes,” a campaign statement said.
The tax news came a day after Trump’s early morning Twitter rant about a former Miss Universe continued a negative news cycle for the Republican nominee since Monday’s debate.
Trump shamed Alicia Machado for a sex tape that doesn’t appear to exist. The Clinton campaign obtained information on Machado’s interactions with Trump from an opposition research firm that may have violated campaign finance laws.
The Commission on Presidential Debates said that Trump’s audio was impacted during Monday’s debate.
“Regarding the first debate, there were issues regarding Donald Trump's audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall,” the commission said in a statement.
A videotaped deposition of Trump was released on Friday over a dispute involving a restaurant owner who backed out of Trump’s new Washington hotel after Trump’s comments about Mexicans.
The polls open nationally in 35 days. Let’s get started.
The tax saga continues
In the early 1990s, Trump went through a financially turbulent time where multiple investments went belly up and casinos he owned struggled to survive.
In response, Trump declared a massive loss on his 1995 income tax, which tax experts told the Times that he could have used the loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over the coming decades.
“Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required,” a statement from the Trump campaign said. “Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President and he is the only one that knows how to fix it.”
Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President and he is the only one that knows how to fix it.
Trump campaign on $916 million in losses declared by Trump in 1995
Clinton was quick to respond on Saturday night.