I always regarded moral relativism as a lens to judge modern culture against historical cultures and norms. It turns out that it’s much, much worse to be a ‘good’ person committing a moderately bad act as compared to a ‘bad’ person who regularly commits much worse acts. That’s a bit depressing.
Edit to clarify my point:
It was a major scandal when Tim Geithner had to pay $20k in back taxes that he owed from his time at the IMF, similarly when one of Clinton’s nominees for the AJ position withdrew when it turned out that she owed taxes on the salary she was paying her housekeeper, similarly again Spiro Agnew resigned from the office of the Vice President of the US over something like $8k in taxes on income he didn’t report (as well as some other corruption involving bribes and kickbacks). But millions of dollars of illegally shielded income depriving the treasury of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue during the campaign merits a shrug because there are so many other scandals.
Similar mechanisms are at work when a popular athlete is caught doing something, or priests, etc. Once someone’s ego becomes invested in you, you can more easily take advantage of them and that’s an important thing to learn (and wield for yourself).
I had a family member sell me property for $1 (it was a gift). That alone isn’t fraud.
And in terms of taxes, usually far below market prices and taxed at an appraised value so the govt still gets their dollars.
The property appraises at the same price so property taxes aren't the concern, just income taxes due on the transfer.
If you read the article, the two properties were listed for sale for $245,000 and $250,000 in 1997. They are two luxury condos, literally on Central Park, in a doorman building in NYC. They were previously listed at $800k (without the ability of a unrelated party to combine them with Eric's other unit in the building). A similar unit sold for $700k in 2014.
What do you think the Fair Market Value of those condos is? More or less than the $350k that Trump sold them for? Do you think the annual real estate inflation rate in Manhattan from 1997 to 2016 is more or less than the 1.7% implied by the sale price?
Several different tax lawyers weighed in for the ProPublica piece listed above, and as well as the Washington Post piece here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/this-trump-real-estat...
And Newsweek's treatment of the sales when it turned out Eric had applied for a permit to combine the three units to turn them into a multi-level penthouse on Central Park:
https://www.newsweek.com/eric-trump-making-penthouse-real-es...
Would you honestly be surprised if Trump was engaging in low-grade real estate tax fraud to benefit his family?
It is not unusual for real estate to sell well below list prices. Further, we don't know what other factors may have played into the price, as many real estate deals involve considerations other than price.
I have no idea whether or not fraud was involved, but there is no smoking gun here as you suggest.
The building was completed 20 years ago, Trump owned them since 1997 and is selling them now for the first time. To his son. For much less than they're worth.
> It is not unusual for real estate to sell well below list prices. Further, we don't know what other factors may have played into the price, as many real estate deals involve considerations other than price.
Yes it is. The other considerations (Eric's ability to combine them with a unit he owns on a higher floor to create a huge penthouse) actually make the units more valuable, not less. That's why fair market value is the bar, not some vague standard. The fact that they were publicly listed for $800k before being sold for 65% less to someone who would have a higher value is certainly damning.
> I have no idea whether or not fraud was involved, but there is no smoking gun here as you suggest.
Several prominent tax lawyers disagree. Why on earth would you give him the benefit of the doubt on this? His entire real estate empire was built on low-grade tax fraud: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tax-scam-maralago-golf-756188
Eric Trump had used two anonymous LLCs to buy properties from his father's LLC for far below market rate. He was going to combine the units with another he already owned which actually made them more valuable than simple comps suggested. There were several opportunities to disclose the related party / family transaction but they both affirmed that it was at arm's length in the paperwork that they signed.
Propublica & The WaPo both published articles but I wasn't sure at the time so I remained anonymous publicly. Turns out that corruption doesn't matter and nobody cares that our president constantly commits financial crimes, so meh?
The propublica article: https://www.propublica.org/article/heres-how-trump-transferr...