Trump accountant says former president claimed decade of huge tax losses

Former President Trump reported hundreds of millions in losses on his tax returns for a decade, according to his longtime accountant who testified Tuesday, AP reports.

The big picture: The Trump Organization has been accused in a criminal tax fraud trial of helping executives avoid income taxes on compensation they got in addition to their salaries.

• Prosecutors said longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg avoided paying taxes on rent and private school tuition.
• The company could be fined more than $1 million if convicted, AP writes.

By the numbers: The former president claimed nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, said Donald Bender, the accountant at Mazars USA LLP who prepared Trump's personal tax returns for years.

• The New York Times previously reported on Trump's earnings and taxes, debunking his claims of self-made wealth and revealing allegations of a business empire riddled with tax dodges.

What he's saying: Trump last week blamed Bender and Mazars for the legal woes, saying in an online post: "The highly paid accounting firm should have routinely picked these things up - we relied on them. VERY UNFAIR!"

Of note: The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Trump's emergency application asking it to block a Democratic-led House committee from obtaining his tax returns.

• It allows Trump's tax returns to be released to the House Ways and Means Committee, which has been attempting for years to obtain them from the Internal Revenue Service as part of its investigation into the service’s presidential audit program.