--Bombthrowers: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow went on Twitter Tuesday (March 14th) to hype her "breaking story": "We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. (Seriously)." This no doubt sent the Left into a state of delirium. Then, Maddow followed up with another tweet, lowering expectations slightly: "What we've got is from 2005... the President's 1040 form... details to come tonight 9PM ET, MSNBC." That was not quite accurate either. What Maddow finally revealed on her show, after all of her self-promotion, were only two leaked pages from President Trump's 2005 tax return that she had received from former New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston. Johnston claimed he just happened to receive them in his mailbox. And all that Maddow managed to prove was that President Trump paid $38 million in federal income taxes on reported income of $150 million, at an effective rate of 24.5 percent, as compared to the Obamas' payment of federal income taxes on their reported income at an effective tax rate of 18.7 percent in 2015. In anticipation of Maddow's attempted "scoop," the White House scooped her and released information on President Trump's 2005 taxes before Maddow did.
