Wiretap: October surprises bleed into November

Tax evader extraordinaire

If you’re keeping score at home, the ball is now officially back in Donald Trump’s court. The New York Times has followed its blockbuster report on leaked Trump tax returns with another blockbuster report on leaked Trump tax returns. In this one, it shows how Trump gamed the system to avoid reporting hundreds of millions of dollars of taxable income. One tax expert said that Trump stretched the tax code “beyond any recognition.”

From Russia with love

Meanwhile, “a veteran spy” tells Mother Jones of an alleged Russian operation to cultivate Donald Trump.

The New York Times says the FBI investigated Trump’s relationship with Russia and found, in its view, that Russia was more interested in disrupting the 2016 election that it was in helping Trump. Some wonder, then, why the Trump-Putin bromance and why there have been no Russian-based leaks from the Trump campaign.

The Comey fallout

And now some are comparing Comey to J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director that Comey never wanted to emulate. Via The New York Times.

A scrambling FBI promises to investigate the latest batch of Clinton emails as quickly as possible. The question, of course, is whether that can possibly be quick enough. Via the Los Angeles Times.

Jonathan Chait looks at what he considers the worst-case scenario for Comey’s blunder: Donald Trump could actually win. Via New York magazine.

Clinton’s critics know she’s guilty, but they’re still trying to figure out exactly what she’s guilty of. Via Vox.

Minority report

As the race tightens, Clinton is increasingly dependent on the minority vote. The question is whether African-Americans will turn out for her in the way they turned out for Obama. Early returns suggest they won’t. Via The Washington Post.

Trump’s midwestern gamble

If people are wondering why Trump is campaigning in Michigan and Wisconsin – and many are – the answer is easy: That’s where the issuing electoral college votes would be in Trump’s hunt for 270. Via The New Yorker.

Is there justice in political cases?

What Cliven Bundy, James Comey and Hillary Clinton have in common: understanding the difficulty of prosecuting political cases. Via The National Review.

Flickr photo by Torbakhopper
He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow.