For the sake of historical interest, the investigative journalists at ProPublica report that back in the 1980s and ’90s, the Trump Organization was one of several big New York real estate interests that paid bribes to corrupt tax assessors to reduce the tax valuations on properties in the Big Rotten Apple, according to five of the criminals themselves. Two of the convicted former city tax assessors said they personally took money from middlemen on the behalf of the Trump Org, and three others “said they had indirect knowledge of the payments.” They were all interviewed as part of a story for the radio series “Trump Inc.” produced by ProPublica and WNYC.
They said they received bribes from middlemen for a bunch of property owners, including the Trump Organization. The bag men would hand over envelopes full of cash, and then the property owners got far lower tax assessments than they normally would have.
One such middleman, they said, was a tax consultant, Thomas McArdle, whose name later surfaced in connection with the bribery scheme.
One of the two assessors recalled receiving a list of about 20 properties from McArdle; 40 Wall St. was on it, he said.
Another said that at one meeting, he looked in the envelope and asked for more money. The middleman responded by telling him that Donald Trump thought the employee should be making the assessment changes for free.
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Article URL : https://www.wonkette.com/maybe-the-trump-organization-did-some-light-bribery-for-lower-taxes-but-it-was-so-long-ago