A remarkable coincidence in Trump timing of tax refund and going Birther:
2010: Trump received a likely illegal refund of $73M per @nytimes
March 2011: Trump goes all-in Birther.
Was the Obama IRS investigating?
Did Trump go birther to frame it as Obama's partisan retribution?
The @nytimes bombshell on the 2010 tax refund & IRS audit that followed:
"Starting in 2010 he claimed & received a refund totaling $72.9M. The legitimacy of that refund is at the center of the audit battle that he has long been waging, out of public view, with the IRS..."
@nytimes documents "square with the way Trump cites, without explanation, an ongoing audit as grounds for refusing to release his tax returns."
E.g.: July on @seanhannity @FoxNews: “They treat me horribly, the IRS, horribly.”
Now obviously Obama's IRS:
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
This is the likely timeline:
2010: Trump requests and received likely fraudulent $73M refund.
2010 or early 2011: Obama IRS audits Trump.
March 2011: Trump goes all-in hardcore Birther.
CNN timeline of Trump Birtherism:
My theory:
Trump was desperate in the financial crisis, overreached for huge refund in 2010.
Obama IRS started behind-the-scenes audit in 2010.
Trump's 2011 brushback pitch: Frame the audit as retribution.
Maybe it worked.
And in the process, made Trump a white nationalist hero.
And Trump has basically told the world that there are bodies buried in his finances.
Given the possible role of Putin and the Mob, maybe (almost) literally bodies buried there.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.