CNN：特朗普為何不公布納稅單？成當今美國最大謎團！

The secret of why Donald Trump won"t release his taxes

唐納德·特朗普不公布他的納稅申報單之謎

來源：CNN 翻譯：世界播

On Monday night, as expected, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin informed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, that he would not be handing over President Donald Trump"s tax returns.

正如預期的那樣，周一晚上，財政部長史蒂夫·姆欽告知眾議院籌款委員會主席、馬薩諸塞州民主黨人理查德·尼爾，他不會交出唐納德·特朗普總統的納稅申報單。

That move will occasion a response from Neal -- in the form of a subpoena, a contempt vote or a lawsuit. No matter what Neal chooses, this fight is headed into the legal arena sooner rather than later.

這一舉動將會引起尼爾的回應，或以傳票的形式，或舉行蔑視法庭的投票，亦或提起訴訟。無論尼爾選擇什麼，這場鬥爭遲早都會進入法律領域。

And it"s likely that it winds up, at some point, in front of the Supreme Court.

很有可能，在某一時刻，它會在最高法院前結束。

But, the point remains: Donald Trump was (and is) the only major party presidential nominee since Watergate to never release any past tax returns. He is also the only president to refuse to release even a year of past returns.

但關鍵是：自水門事件以來，唐納德?特朗普是(現在也是)唯一一位從未公布過任何以往納稅申報單的主要政黨總統候選人。他也是唯一一位拒絕公布過去一年申報單的總統。

So, why? Why never release any tax returns during the course of the campaign? Why offer a variety of shifting explanations, for why you aren"t releasing them? And why carry the fight possibly all the way to the nation"s highest court?

所以，這究竟是為什麼呢？為何不在競選期間公布任何納稅申報單？為什麼要提供各種不同的解釋，為什麼你不公布它們呢？為什麼要把這場鬥爭帶到全國最高法院呢？

Mnuchin"s stated reason for not turning over the taxes to Neal is that the Massachusetts Democrat is not asking for the returns for legitimate reasons but rather to score political points -- and, therefore, the Internal Revenue Service (and the Treasury) doesn"t need to comply with a little-known statute that allows a select few members of Congress to see Trump"s tax returns.

姆欽表示，他不把稅收單移交給尼爾的理由是，這位馬薩諸塞州民主黨人不是出於正當理由要求這些稅單，而是為了自己的政績。因此，美國國稅局(和財政部)不需要遵守一項鮮為人知的法規，該法規允許少數國會議員查看特朗普的納稅申報單。

Trump has been fighting against transparency on this front from the beginning of his candidacy -- despite running a campaign in which he put his supposed wealth and success front and center.

從競選伊始，特朗普就一直在與這方面的透明度作鬥爭，儘管在競選活動中，他把自己所謂的財富和成功放在了最重要的位置。

Which gets me back to the question of why. Here are a few of the most likely reasons:

這讓我又回到了為什麼的問題上。以下是幾個最可能的原因：

1) Trump"s not as rich as he says: There"s very little question that Trump overstates his personal wealth. He"s said he"s worth $10 billion; Forbes said in 2018 that number is closer to $3 billion. For Trump to be exposed as one-third as rich as he had said he is would be embarrassing, sure. But remember, too, that Trump equates wealth directly with success and importance. So being exposed as less rich would be a blow to his success narrative as well.

1)特朗普並不像他說的那麼富有：毫無疑問，特朗普誇大了他的個人財富。他說自己身價100億美元；但根據福布斯2018年的數據顯示，他的身價只接近30億美元。當然，如果特朗普最終被曝光的財富只有他所說的三分之一，那將是令人尷尬的。但也要記住，特朗普把財富直接等同於成功並將其放在極其重要的位置。因此，被曝光為不那麼富有的人，也會直接毀滅他的成功故事。

2) He has Russia ties: While the Mueller report made clear that neither Trump nor anyone in his campaign orbit colluded with the Russians to help Trump win the 2016 election, it would still be a very big story if Trump"s tax returns showed he had extensive financial dealings and ties to Russia. We know, from Michael Cohen, that Trump and his family were deeply involved in the potential construction of Trump Tower Moscow and that Cohen lied about that involvement (and how long it stretched) to protect Trump. We also know that Donald Trump Jr. said this at a 2008 real estate conference: "In terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Say, in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo, and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."

2)他與俄羅斯有關係：儘管穆勒報告明確表示，特朗普或他競選活動中的任何助手都沒有與俄羅斯進行過勾結，以此來幫助他贏得2016年大選，但如果特朗普的納稅申報表顯示他與俄羅斯有著廣泛的金融交易和關係，那將仍然是一個非常具有爆點的新聞。我們從邁克爾·科恩那裡得知，特朗普和他的家人深入參與了莫斯科特朗普大廈的潛在建設，而科恩在保護特朗普的參與(以及參與的時間有多長)上撒了謊。我們還知道小唐納德·特朗普在2008年的一次房地產會議上說過：「在流入美國的高端產品方面，俄羅斯人在我們的很多資產中所佔的比例相當大。比如說，在迪拜，當然還有我們在蘇豪區的項目，以及在紐約的所有地方。我們看到大量來自俄羅斯的資金湧入。」

3) He didn"t pay many (or any) taxes: We know -- because Trump admitted as much -- that he used a more than $900 million net operating loss for his business in 1995 to avoid paying personal income taxes for a number of subsequent years.

3)他並沒有繳納很多稅(或任何稅)：我們知道，他在1995年用超過9億美元的凈營業虧損來逃避接下來幾年的個人所得稅，這一點特朗普也承認了。

As the Times noted, Trump"s $916 million loss in 1995 could have allowed him to pay $0 in personal income taxes for the next 18 years.

正如《紐約時報》所指出的那樣，特朗普1995年9.16億美元的虧損原本是可以讓他在未來18年里繳納0美元的個人所得稅（不過他只逃了幾年的稅）。

4) He donates no (or very little) money to charity: We know, thanks to the amazing reporting of the Washington Post"s David Fahrenthold, that Trump long used his charitable organization to feather his own nest and collect political chits rather than for any philanthropic purposes. (Trump shut down the charity in 2018.) It"s not at all clear how generous (if at all) Trump has been to other charities over the past few decades. While there is no requirement for wealthy individuals to make large charitable donations, many do. And Trump has often boasted about the depth and breadth of his charitable giving.

4)他從不(或很少)向慈善機構捐款：我們知道，由於《華盛頓郵報》的戴維·華倫特爾德此前曾寫過一篇驚人報道，那就是特朗普長期利用他的慈善組織為自己謀取私利，攬收政治小錢，而不是用於任何慈善目的。(特朗普在2018年關閉了這家慈善機構。)在過去幾十年里，特朗普向其他慈善機構捐贈了多少(如果有的話)，這一點尚不清楚。雖然社會上沒有要求富有的個人進行大額慈善捐贈，但很多人都這樣做了。特朗普經常吹噓自己慈善捐贈的錢特別多，而且捐贈的範圍特別廣。

Whatever the reason (or reasons), it"s very clear that Trump -- soon after he became a candidate for president -- reversed course on his past pledges to release his returns.

不管原因究竟是什麼，但有一點很明顯，那就是特朗普在他成為總統候選人後不久，就改變了他過去說要公布自己納稅申報單的承諾。

"I would certainly show tax returns if it was necessary," Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in February 2015, just months before formally entering the presidential race. A year later, after Mitt Romney publicly challenged Trump to release his taxes, the billionaire businessman"s approach had changed.

2015年2月，就在正式參加總統競選的幾個月前，特朗普對保守派電台主持人休·休伊特說：「如果有必要，我當然會出示我的納稅申報單。」一年後，在米特·羅姆尼公開要求特朗普公布他的稅收後，這位億萬富翁商人的態度發生了變化。

What changed? Who knows! But, it"s quite clear that sometime between February 2015 and February 2016, Trump decided that whatever was in his returns would be far worse for him if it got out than the negative press he would take for not releasing them. And he"s not backing away from that decision. Not for anything.

什麼變了？誰知道呢！但是，很明顯，在2015年2月到2016年2月之間的某個時候，特朗普決定，如果他的納稅申報單被公之於眾，對他來說會比他因為沒有公布而接受的負面新聞糟糕得多。他不會放棄這個決定。也絕不會因任何理由放棄。

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