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Hillary Clinton seen accusing Trump of not paying tax in resurfaced video after NYT report on POTUS' chronic debts

Clinton, then-Democratic nominee, speaking at the first presidential debate on September 26, 2016, had claimed that Trump had paid no income tax for years

Hours after details of President Donald Trump's tax returns were published, a video from the 2016 presidential elections debate has surfaced on social media, where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can be seen accusing Trump of paying no income tax. Clinton, then-Democratic nominee, speaking at the first presidential debate on September 26, 2016, had claimed that Trump had paid no income tax for years when moderator Lester Holt asked why Trump was the first candidate in decades not to release his tax returns.

The details of Trump's tax returns were released by The New York Times on Sunday, September 27, nearly four years after he was elected into the White House. The Republican, during his 2016 presidential bid, defied convention and refused to publicly release his tax returns. The outlet revealed that the president has not paid federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years. Trump reportedly paid just $750 per year in federal income taxes, significantly less than the amount than what many Americans from low-income households pay.

Clinton, in the resurfaced video, says: "He doesn’t want the American people … to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes because the only years that anybody’s ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax." Trump, in response, leans forward and says: "That makes me smart." Clinton's claims years ago was largely corroborated by the Times' report. 

A video of the exchange between the two was shared by Maya Harris, the sister of 2020 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times within hours. Trump, during the 2016 debate, had stated that he could not release his tax returns because his income was under an audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He then added that if he paid taxes, the money would be "squandered" by the government.

The Republican leader is currently involved in an audit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which reportedly began in 2011 after Trump claimed and received a $72.9 million tax refund. The legitimacy of the refund is currently being reviewed by the IRS. Reports state that a ruling against the president in the case could cost him over $100 million. The information revealed in the documents obtained by the outlet consisted of information Trump had "disclosed to the IRS," and not from the findings of an independent financial examination by the agency. Trump, however, slammed the report, calling it  “totally fake news.” 

The details, revealed in the president's tax returns obtained by the Times, have also revealed that the Republican leader personally holds $421 million of debt and loans, and most of this amount is due within four years. The exposé comes just two days before Trump and his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, are set to face off in their first debate on Tuesday, September 29.