Giuliani and Christie call Trump a 'genius' for avoiding paying taxes for almost two DECADES - while campaign says tax returns published in the New York Times were 'illegally obtained'

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Donald Trump's top surrogates Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie responded to the New York Times' story that said the billionaire could have used a legal loophole to avoid paying any federal income tax for almost 20 years after he declared a loss of nearly $1 billion in 1995. 

'The man is a genius, he knows how to operate the tax code for the benefit of the people he's serving,' Giuliani said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 

Christie, the New Jersey governor, explained that what the story showed was 'what an absolute mess the federal tax code is, and that’s why Donald Trump is the person best positioned to fix it. There’s no one who’s shown more genius in the way to maneuver around the tax code and rightfully used the laws to do that.' 

'This is actually a very, very good story for Donald Trump,' Christie continued. 

The Trump campaign refused to confirm or deny the reports in a statement provided to the newspaper, and instead said the returns were 'illegally obtained'.  

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Donald Trump today after the New York Times reported that he could have gotten away with not paying taxes for 18 years 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also jumped to Donald Trump's defense suggesting the New York Times story highlighted a tax code that needed to be fixed by Mr. Trump

Donald Trump could have avoided paying any federal income tax for almost 20 years after he declared a loss of nearly $1billion in 1995, a new report claims

 

The New York Times obtained copies of Donald Trump's tax returns from 1995. Pictured are three published pages of the returns

The New York Times says it was sent hard copies of the documents in the mail, in a letter with a return address claiming it had been sent from Trump Tower in New York City. 

A 2001 Supreme Court case, Bartnicki v. Vopper, set a precedent that going forward allowed news organizations to broadcast something that was illegally obtained by a third-party and not be liable.  

Giuliani told CNN's Jake Tapper that he couldn't speak to the veracity of the Times reporting, so he would respond to it, 'as if it's true.' 

He then pointed out that it was 'perfectly legal' not to pay taxes in this scenario, the former New York City mayor said. 

'The Times makes that point about 26 paragraphs into the opinion,' Giuliani said. 

Tax experts told the the New York Times that Trump's declared loss of $916million was so large, it would have entitled the reality television star and Republican presidential candidate to legally, 'cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.'  

In the story, the New York Times estimated Trump would have been able to 'wipe out more than $50million a year in taxable income' over the time frame.

'He has a vast benefit from his destruction,' NYU assistant professor Joel Rosefeld told the Times. 

Rosenfeld then told the newspaper what he would tell a client who came to him with a similar return to the one allegedly obtained for the report.

'Do you realize you can create $916million in income without paying a nickel in taxes?' he said he would advise someone in the same position.

The accusation is based on claims Trump (picturd in 1995) declared a loss of $916 billion on his 1995 income tax returns

'Mr Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required,' a statement from the campaign read. 

Giuliani echoed this sentiment on 'State of the Union' today. 

'This is really very unfair,' the ex-mayor scoffed. 'If he didn't take advantage of those tax deductions, or tax advantages that he had, he could be sued. Because his obligation, as a businessman, is to make money for his enterprise and to save money for his enterprise.' 

'It would have been insane not to take advantage,' Giuliani continued. 

'Who would sue him for his own personal income taxes?' Tapper asked. 

Giuliani answered that investors and banks could have sued Trump. 

Changing directions slightly, Tapper pointed out that the businessman had lost nearly $1 billion in a year's time and asked how that made him a 'genius.'  

'Since he came back and he came all the way back,' Giuliani responded. 'Isn't that the history of America?'

'People like Steve Jobs was fired by Apple and came all the way back, Churchill  was thrown out of office twice and came all the way back, it shows what a genius he is,' Giuliani continued. 'Because he was able to preserve his enterprise and he was able to build it.'  

The Trump campaign  statement went on to accuse the New York Times and 'the establishment media in general' or being: 'an extension of the Clinton campaign, the Democratic party and their global special interests'.  

Hillary Clinton's campaign released a statement after the reports emerged.

'There it is. This bombshell report reveals the colossal nature of Donald Trump's past business failures and just how long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever,' campaign manager Robby Mook said.

'In one year, Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollar. A billion. He stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hard working communities.

'And how did it work out for him? He apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades - while tens of millions of working families paid theirs. He calls that 'smart'. Now that the gig is up, why doesn't he go ahead and release his returns to show us all how 'smart' he really is?' 

Clinton's Campaign Manager Robby Mook said today on 'Meet the Press' that voters are discovering that Trump is not the change agent some believed him to be. 

'We talk about the rigged system out there. Donald Trump embodies that,' Mook said. 

Trump has broken with campaign tradition by not releasing his tax returns. 

The Republican candidate has repeatedly said he will release the returns after a 'routine audit' is completed by the IRS.

If he does not, Trump will be the first GOP nominee since Gerald Ford in 1976 not to do so.

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said it is 'disqualifying or a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters'.  

During Monday's first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton accused Trump of not paying taxes. 

The Republican nominee replied to the comment, saying it: 'makes me smart'.

Hillary Clinton released her 2015 personal tax return, and both her and her husband have made their records public every year since 1977.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine released his returns for the past 10 years, while Republican VP hopeful Mike Pence also released his returns from the past decade.

After the story broke, social media users dug up old tweets from Trump that looked hypocritical in the light of the New York Times report.

'@BarackObama who wants to raise all our taxes, only pays 20.5% on $790k salary. Do as I say not as I do,' Trump wrote in April 2012. 

After the story broke, social media users dug up old tweets from Trump that looked hypocritical in the light of the New York Times report

'HALF of Americans don't pay income tax despite crippling govt debt,' he tweeted, while sharing a Dailymail.com story.

'The @washingtonpost loses money (a deduction) and gives owner @JeffBezos power to screw public on low taxation of @Amazon! Big tax shelter,' he wrote in December 2015.

He also manually retweeted a compliment from a fan who wrote: 'Trump is an American that will pay more taxes in one year than you pay in your entire life.'