UK Tax Filings Show Trump Inflated Value of Scottish Resorts by $165 Million

Aside from the continued embarrassment of being a TV businessman who proves time and again to be bad at business, the $165 million discrepancy between the US and UK filings could put Trump in further legal trouble. Providing false or incomplete information in a public financial disclosure form is a violation of the Ethics in Government Act punishable by up to a year in jail; putting his EKG signature on a form attesting false information is the equivalent of making a false statement, and is punishable by up to five years in prison. (Of course, if the Office of Special Counsel that enforces the law does look into Trump’s misreporting as a possible violation, they will have to get in line behind state and federal authorities investigating Trump’s hush money payments to Stormy Daniels; his sketchy inauguration funding; his New York state tax history; and the Trump Organization’s business practices.) “The numbers don’t appear to add up,” ethics law expert Virginia Canter told HuffPost, adding that OGE regulations allow a decent amount of leeway in determining asset value. “That said, it’s not at all clear after reviewing the U.K. balance sheet for Aberdeen how they came to $50 million … I think it raises legitimate questions.”