Donald Trump’s former tax accountant said Tuesday that he is the one who “did all the work” to prepare the billionaire’s 1995 tax returns, rebuffing Trump’s recent claim that he “brilliantly” manipulated the tax code to pay as little taxes as possible.
“I’m the one who did all the work. He had no involvement in the preparation,” Jack Mitnick, who spent several years as the Trump family’s accountant, told “Inside Edition” in an interview that is set to air in full on Tuesday evening.
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Mitnick was featured in a New York Times article last Saturday that revealed new details about the Republican presidential nominee’s tax practices, including the possibility that he may have avoided paying income taxes for nearly two decades by taking a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns.
The Times had initially contacted Mitnick to see if he could verify several pages of tax documents that were sent anonymously to a staff reporter.
Trump spent Monday defending his tax practices and claiming his manipulation of the tax code further proves that he’s a skilled businessman.
“I was able to use the tax laws of our country and my skills as a business person to dig out of this real estate depression when few others were able to do it,” he told voters in Colorado. “Honestly, I have brilliantly used those laws.”
Mitnick also said “it’s a mystery” who else got a hold of the tax returns and sent them to reporters at the Times, among other publications.
“All the copies were delivered to Mr. Trump. Who got them after that, I can’t tell you,” he said.
