3 Stories You Should Read 7/8/2019: Elisabeth Warren, Epstein, Trump Taxes

July 8, 2019 Confluence

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In the category of: States rights

New York gov signs law that would allow Congress to get Trump’s state tax returns

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed an amendment to New York law that would allow Congress to get hold of President Donald Trump’s state tax returns while the legal battle for his federal returns rages on.

The law, which takes effect Monday, requires the state’s tax commissioner to provide New York state tax returns to Congress upon request from the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, or the Joint Committee on Taxation and mandates the removal of any federal tax information that might appear on state returns.

Despite this, there are no immediate plans for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to request Trump’s state tax returns as the law outlines, according to a Democratic aide with knowledge of the situation. Utilizing the New York law could complicate the battle the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee has already been waging in court to obtain six years of the President’s personal and business federal tax returns.

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In the category of: More than photos

Jeffrey Epstein had vast trove of lewd photos of young-looking girls, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a criminal indictment Monday charging multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein with having operated a sex trafficking ring in which he sexually abused dozens of underage girls, allegations that have circulated around the politically connected businessman for years.

According to the indictment, between 2002 and 2005, Epstein ran a trafficking enterprise in which he paid hundreds of dollars in cash to girls as young as 14 to have sex with him at his Upper East Side home and his estate in Palm Beach, worked with employees and associates to lure the girls to his residences and paid some of his victims to recruit other girls for him to abuse.

“In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit, often on a daily basis,” Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement Monday.

Epstein, 66, was arrested Saturday night at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey aboard his private jet upon returning from Paris.

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In the category of: Girl power

Elizabeth Warren Outraises Bernie Sanders In Second Quarter Of 2020 Campaign

Warren’s impressive haul is the third largest for the quarter, behind only Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised $19.1 million for her 2020 presidential bid in the second quarter of the year, according to her campaign. The haul is more than triple the amount she raised in the first quarter and leaves her with nearly $20 million on hand.

Warren’s second quarter total trails only South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s $24.8 million and former Vice President Joe Biden’s $21.5 million among candidates who have released their fundraising numbers so far. Detailed reports for the quarter are due to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

The impressive amount is something of a validation for Warren’s strategy of relying on grassroots online donations and not holding in-person, high-dollar fundraisers. Democratic strategists and other campaigns had questioned whether or not Warren could pay for her extensive campaign operation without setting aside time to collect maximum-donation checks. So far, she has more than 300 staffers, most of whom are working in the four early primary states.

“You’re making it possible to build a presidential campaign without catering to wealthy donors—with no closed-door fundraisers, no Super PACs, and no money from Washington lobbyists, corporate PACs, or, for that matter, PACs of any kind,” Roger Lau, Warren’s campaign manager, wrote in an email to supporters that will go out this afternoon.

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