During the first presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said not paying income taxes makes him "smart." Trump's surrogates have said not paying taxes makes him a "genius" and Trump himself said his use of the tax code was "brilliant."
You may or may not agree with that, but according to his former accountant, he is the one who deserve all the glory.
"I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature," the Trump family's former tax accountant Jack Mitnick told Inside Edition. "I’m the one who did all the work." [...]
"I understand the tax laws better than almost anyone, which is why I am one who can truly fix them,” [Trump] said at a campaign rally on Monday. “I understand it. I get it. And that is what I commit to do."
In a sense this isn't necessarily new information. We know wealthy people like Trump can afford to hire accountants and lawyers who've studied every single loophole in the tax code, but Trump regularly boasts of his own proficiency, brilliance and loophole-exploiting prowess.
If you asked Trump to explain exactly how he's been kept afloat by his hired help, I'm skeptical that he could actually tell you.
An intrepid reporter could ask him to explain it, but Trump hasn't held a press conference since July. I don't expect debate moderators are up to the task.