1/ Trump inherited his family’s wealth through fraud and questionable tax schemes, receiving the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. Trump has repeatedly claimed that “I built what I build myself.� Trump and his siblings used fake corporations to hide financial gifts from his parents, which helped his father claim millions in tax deductions. Trump also helped his parents undervalue their real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars when filing their tax returns. In total, Fred and Mary Trump transferred more than a $1 billion in wealth to their children and paid a total of $52.2 million in taxes (about 5%) instead of the $550+ million they should have owed under the 55% tax rate imposed on gifts and inheritances. Trump also “earned� $200,000 a year in today’s dollars starting at age 3 from his father’s companies. After college, Trump started receiving the equivalent of $1 million a year, which increased to $5 million a year when he was in his 40s and 50s. Trump has refused to release his income tax returns, breaking with decades of practice by past presidents. There is no time limit on civil fines for tax fraud. [Editor’s note: This is a must read. An abstract summary does not suffice.] (New York Times)

11 takeaways from the investigation into Trump’s wealth. (New York Times)

A federal judge ruled that a group of nearly 200 Democratic senators and representatives have the legal standing to sue Trump to prove he violated the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause by doing business with foreign governments while in office. (Washington Post / USA Today)

2/ The New York State Tax officials are investigating the allegations that Trump and his family committed “instances of outright fraud� in order to transfer millions of dollars. “The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,� a spokesman from New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said. (CNBC)

3/ Paul Manafort met with Robert Mueller’s office as part of his cooperation agreement. Following his guilty plea last month to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiring to obstruct justice, Manafort is required to cooperate “fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly … in any and all matters as to which the government deems the cooperation relevant.� (Politico)

4/ The intermediary between Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Senate Intelligence Committee that he will plead the Fifth Amendment in response to its subpoena for testimony and documents. Randy Credico spent more than two hours last month testifying before Robert Mueller’s grand jury about stolen Democratic emails. Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, said Credico was his intermediary to Assange and WikiLeaks. (Politico)

5/ Trump directed an effort to pr...