When Donald Trump‘s 2005 tax return was revealed on Rachel Maddow‘s show last night, the reporter who received the return, David Cay Johnston, said “it’s entirely possible Donald sent this to me. Donald Trump has, over the years, leaked things.”
That part of the story was a hot topic on the cable news shows this morning. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough went so far as to claim Trump “had it leaked to the press.” Trump’s attorney fired back on twitter:
.@JoeNBC As #potus @realDonaldTrump personal attorney, I know who has his taxes. You better have proof to back up your claim and big mouth!
Advertisement— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) March 15, 2017
Meanwhile, critics of the report compared Maddow’s 24-minute build-up to the tax return revelation to Geraldo Rivera‘s 1986 opening of Al Capone‘s vault. Which was a bust.
I heard @maddow opened Al Capone’s vault last night and found out @realDonaldTrump paid millions in taxes in 2005
— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) March 15, 2017
Imagine Geraldo’s regret when he opened Al Capone’s vault to find Rachel Maddow’s report on Trump’s taxes. pic.twitter.com/RH3FRZtV66
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 15, 2017
This morning Rivera, now with Fox News, tweeted:
When I didn’t come up w #TrumpTapes @maddow mocked me: “He’s as Empty as #AlCaponesVault” After #TrumpTaxReturns she inherits the mantle.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) March 15, 2017