The New York Times has not been contacted by law enforcement since publishing Donald Trump’s tax records, the paper told TheWrap.
Trump’s campaign has threatened to sue the Times over records it says were “illegally obtained.” After the Times published its story about the records on Saturday, the Washington Post reported: “Federal law makes it illegal to publish an unauthorized tax return or ‘return information.’”
A Times spokesperson told TheWrap that the paper has not been contacted by law enforcement regarding the publishing of the documents, adding, “Nor has there been follow up from Trump’s lawyers.”
New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said last month that he would risk jail time to publish Trump’s tax returns.
“Our job is to report on matters of public concern, and that’s what we did here. Neither Mr. Trump nor his campaign has said anything to refute our conclusion that the tax information we published was accurate,” the paper said in a statement after posting a story on the records Saturday night. “Nothing could be more central to the First Amendment than our right to publish, and the public’s right to know, important information about presidential candidates.”
The legal blog Concurring Opinions collected the views of ten experts in First Amendment law, who concluded that the newspaper is likely safe, so long as it did not participate in illegally obtaining Trump’s records.
Trump’s tax records suggested his $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax return could have “allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.” The Trump campaign quickly responded that the document was “illegally obtained.”
Shortly thereafter, a lawyer for Trump, Marc E. Kasowitz, wrote the Times saying the publication of the tax documents was illegal “because Mr. Trump has not authorized the disclosure of any of his tax returns,” and threatened “prompt initiation of appropriate legal action” in response.
The U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on whether or not the Times is currently being investigated for publishing Trump’s returns. While the Times headquarters falls within New York’s South District, location doesn’t necessarily determine which U.S. Attorney would handle the case, a representative for the office said.
The office referred TheWrap to the U.S. Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The Times published tax information related to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The three states have different laws, with New Jersey carrying a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for releasing tax records without permission. Under New York law, releasing information in a report or return could bring fines of as much as $10,000 and imprisonment of as long as a year, according to the Post. Connecticut appears to be more lenient.
Under federal law, releasing tax information is “punishable by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution,” according to the Post.