National

The Air Force general overseeing American air space admitted Monday that the military had failed to identify multiple Chinese surveillance balloons that flew over the U.S. in the past, calling it a "domain awareness gap."

The big picture: A U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday after it had floated across several states, raising concerns that China was collecting sensitive information on military sites.

Over the weekend, a senior defense official said Chinese government surveillance balloons had flown above the continental U.S. four other times in recent years — three times while former president Donald Trump was in office, and once under Biden — "but never for this duration of time."

Driving the news: "I will tell you that we did not detect those threats," Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Monday of any previous balloons. 

"That's a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out," VanHerck said in a briefing with reporters. "But I don't want to go in further detail."

VanHerck said U.S. intelligence agencies relied on "additional means of collection" to retroactively identify the other balloons.

He said the most recent balloon — which China has claimed was a civilian weather airship — was "up to 200 feet tall" with a payload comparable to that of a "regional jet."

Zoom out: VanHerck said that the U.S. "took maximum precaution to prevent" the balloon from collecting intelligence while it was above the country but declined to provide further details. 

"We did not assess that it presented a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from the Chinese," he said.

He also said the balloon provided the U.S. an opportunity to collect intelligence on its purpose, capabilities, and more.

The U.S. Navy on Monday continued to collect debris from the balloon, which will be used for further analysis. 

The balloon's presence over the U.S. led Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his upcoming travel to Beijing, which would have been the first trip to China for a top American diplomat in a half-dozen years.

The saga also prompted criticism of President Joe Biden from congressional Republicans, who accused him of acting too slowly to take down the balloon — but military leaders have said they delayed in part due to safety reasons.

Go deeper: Everything we know about the China balloon

Top general says U.S. failed to detect previous Chinese balloons

Chinese balloons transited the U.S. four other times in recent years, the general said.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon flies near Charlotte, N.C., on February 04, 2023. Photo: Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Military

Politics & Policy

The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released six years of former President Trump's tax returns, uncloaking a complex web of businesses and other sources of income.

Why it matters: The release comes after the committee's yearslong effort to obtain Trump's tax returns as part of a probe into the IRS' mandatory presidential audit program — and as he vies for a second White House term while facing other investigations and legal defeats.

The committee formally voted to release the former president's returns earlier this month.

As outlined in a report released by the committee earlier this month, the former president's tax returns from 2015 through 2020 show that his finances and the amount of taxes he and Melania Trump owed fluctuated significantly throughout his presidency.

He and the former first lady reported a negative income of $4.7 million in 2020, with $0 of taxable income and a net tax liability of $0. The same year, the couple also claimed a tax refund of $5.4 million.

What they're saying: "A president is no ordinary taxpayer," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said in a statement Friday. "They hold power and influence unlike any other American. And with great power comes even greater responsibility."

“We anticipated the IRS would expand the mandatory audit program to account for the complex nature of the former president’s financial situation yet found no evidence of that," Neal said. "This is a major failure of the IRS under the prior administration, and certainly not what we had hope to find."

The committee released a zipped file containing copies of Trump's personal and business returns. 

Driving the news: The committee's release includes thousands of pages from Trump's recent tax returns. 

Though some sensitive details, such as social security numbers, are redacted, the documents reveal previously undisclosed details about the former president's finances while he served in the White House. 

Trump reported having several foreign financial interests, including accounts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, and Saint Martin. 

Trump, whose name appears on hotels across the globe, also reported other financial activity in more than a dozen foreign countries, including Korea, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Panama.

The big picture: The newly released records help corroborate testimony from Trump's former tax preparer that he reported significant losses on his returns in the decade leading up to 2018.

For example, in 2017 — the first year of Trump's presidency — he and Melania listed a total income of negative $12.9 million on their personal return.

His main holding company, DJT Holdings LLC, reported more than $300 million in losses in the six years the returns cover as well. 

Tax filings related to Trump's family business have been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent years, with a jury convicting the Trump Organization of tax fraud earlier this month. 

Background: The House Ways and Means Committee initially requested Trump's returns from the IRS in 2019 as part of its investigation into the service’s presidential audit program.

After the Treasury Department denied the committee's request, Neal, the committee chair, filed a lawsuit enforcing its inquiry.

The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court in November, which ruled against Trump and paved the way for the committee to gain access to the returns.

A separate report from the committee released earlier this month found that the the IRS did not audit Trump's taxes during the first two years of his presidency, even though the service is required to conduct mandatory reviews of presidents' tax returns.

The Democrat-led committee was up against a deadline to complete its probe of the audit program and Trump returns, as the incoming Republican House majority would have likely ceased the committee's investigation in the new Congress.

The other side: “The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people,” Trump said in a statement Friday. “The radical, left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”

The newly released documents, Trump said, “once again show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and enterprises."

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee issued a minority views report Friday objecting to the release of the tax records, saying, "Democrats’ dangerous precedent will lead the American public to demand other people's tax returns to be released."

What we're watching: During their last hybrid conference ahead of next year's new Congress, House Republicans debated how — or if — they should weaponize any of President Biden's returns in light of the disclosure, per multiple sources on the call.

Go deeper: Jan. 6 panel refers Trump on criminal charges

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

House committee releases Trump tax returns

In the first year of his presidency, Trump listed a total income of negative $12.9 million on his personal return.

Former President Trump speaking in Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2022.

Former President Trump speaking in Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2022. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Donald Trump

The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released six years of former President Trump&#x27;s tax returns, uncloaking a complex web of businesses and other sources of income.Why it matters: The release comes after the committee&#x27;s yearslong effort to obtain Trump&#x27;s tax returns as part of a probe into the IRS&#x27; mandatory presidential audit program — and as he vies for a second White House term while facing other <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="investigations" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/24/trump-special-counsel-jack-smith" data-vars-content-id="39be5133-b76d-4697-95a6-05a2efc98d2d" data-vars-headline="House committee releases Trump tax returns" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/24/trump-special-counsel-jack-smith" target="_self">investigations</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="legal defeats" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/06/trump-organization-trial-tax-fraud-verdict" data-vars-content-id="39be5133-b76d-4697-95a6-05a2efc98d2d" data-vars-headline="House committee releases Trump tax returns" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/06/trump-organization-trial-tax-fraud-verdict" target="_self">legal defeats</a>.

For decades, the scale of the relationship between a major global bank and the former German Nazi regime has remained unclear, with investigations lacking the necessary funding and resources.

Yes, but: Two confidential reports released Tuesday shed new light on the connections between the Nazis and Credit Suisse, revealing that the bank held nearly 100 accounts linked to German Nazis and members of Nazi-linked groups in Argentina — in some cases, until recent years.

The bank didn't close an account belonging to a former Nazi commander sentenced during the Nuremberg trials until 2002, the reports found.

It wasn't the only account the bank maintained into the 21st century: In another case, the bank held an account for a Nazi-linked official in Argentina until 2020. 

Why it matters: Jewish advocates have long argued that the Zurich-based bank played a larger role in supporting the Third Reich and its top officials than was previously known — and that the bank could still hold money the Nazis looted from Jewish victims during the Second World War.  

Today, Credit Suisse ranks among the 50 biggest banks in the world, and the historic revelations are likely to intensify pressure on the institution to further investigate its role in supporting Nazis both during and after the war.

Driving the news: The Senate Budget Committee released the two reports on Tuesday — Holocaust Remembrance Day — as part of an investigation into Credit Suisse's own efforts to probe the Nazi-linked accounts.

"Credit Suisse appears to have maintained accounts, the vast majority of which have not previously been disclosed, for at least 99 individuals who were either senior Nazi officials in Germany or members of Nazi-affiliated groups in Argentina," the committee said in a press release.

"Seventy Argentine accounts with plausible links to Argentina-based Nazis were opened with Credit Suisse after 1945, and at least 14 of those accounts remained open into the 21st century—some even as recently as 2020."

Background: In 2020, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, revealed that an Argentinian investigator had discovered a war-era list of 12,000 Nazis in the country.

The unearthed records, the SWC said, showed that many of those people "had contributed to one or more bank accounts at the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt," Credit Suisse's predecessor. 

Argentina's pro-Nazi rulers both in the early days of the war and the years after made the South American country a popular destination for Germans fleeing justice. 

What they did: Credit Suisse hired a forensic research firm to investigate the claims, and retained veteran attorney Neil Barofsky to oversee the review, the senators said in a press release. 

But things took a turn earlier this year, when Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the committee, "received credible allegations of potential wrongdoing related to Credit Suisse’s internal investigation, including specifically the questionable removal of Mr. Barofsky in late 2022."

That's when Grassley and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the committee chair, started taking a closer look. With both parties on board, the committee issued its first subpoena in more than 30 years to obtain Barofsky's unreleased report. 

During the course of its investigation, the committee also received the report from AlixPartners, the research firm tasked with the initial review. 

What they're saying: "[T]he information we’ve obtained shows the bank established an unnecessarily rigid and narrow scope, and refused to follow new leads uncovered during the course of the review," Grassley said in a statement.

The SWC said in a statement that the committee's work "shines light on a dark and troubling past that has remained outside the historical record."

The other side: Credit Suisse downplayed the findings, saying that the AlixPartners probe showed that the SWC's claim that "many" names on the Argentinian list held accounts at the bank didn't hold up. 

In a lengthy statement Tuesday, the bank said that it views the dozens of post-war Argentinian accounts "as not relevant to the context of the issues raised by the SWC."

It added, "The investigation also found no evidence that eight long closed accounts identified in this period contained assets from any Holocaust victims."

The bank did, however, acknowledge that AlixPartners had identified one new war-era Nazi account from a separate list of high-ranking Nazis provided by SWC, as well as 12 post-war accounts.

What's next: Credit Suisse has agreed to expand the scope of its review, the senators said, and AlixPartners will perform "a supplementary review" to address some of the still-unanswered questions — such as the value of assets in some of the post-war Nazi accounts. 

The bank has "committed to further investigate its apparent role in supporting Nazis fleeing from justice after WWII," the senators said. 

"The Committee intends to continue its oversight of this matter," they added.

Go deeper: UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion

revealed that an Argentinian investigator

UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion

Swiss bank held nearly 100 Nazi-linked accounts, senators say

An account for a former Nazi commander wasn't closed until 2002.

Nazism

For decades, the scale of the relationship between a major global bank and the former German Nazi regime has remained unclear, with investigations lacking the necessary funding and resources.Yes, but: Two confidential reports released Tuesday shed new light on the connections between the Nazis and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Credit Suisse" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/15/why-we-should-care-about-credit-suisses-problems" data-vars-content-id="462a4a96-6ced-484d-8ea1-6c35baa0472f" data-vars-headline="Swiss bank held nearly 100 Nazi-linked accounts, senators say" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/15/why-we-should-care-about-credit-suisses-problems" target="_self">Credit Suisse</a>, revealing that the bank held nearly 100 accounts linked to German Nazis and members of Nazi-linked groups in Argentina — in some cases, until recent years.

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday released photos of crews recovering large pieces of the Chinese balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on the weekend, offering the closest look yet at the high-altitude aircraft that has further strained relations between the two countries.

Why it matters: Previous photos offered only grainy depictions of the balloon, spotted high in the skies over the continental U.S. last week, leading to much speculation about its capabilities and purpose.

The Chinese government has claimed the balloon was a civilian aircraft used largely for monitoring weather — something the Pentagon has firmly rebuffed.

"This surveillance balloon purposefully traversed the United States and Canada," a senior U.S. defense official said Saturday. "And we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites. Its route over the United States, near many potential sensitive sites, contradicts the PRC government's explanation that it was a weather balloon." 

On Monday, a top U.S. air force general said the balloon was around 200 feet tall and carried a payload approximately the size of a regional jet plane. 

Catch up quick: A U.S. fighter jet fired a missile into the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday after the Chinese aircraft had floated across several states.

Though President Biden authorized the take-down on Wednesday, defense officials said they delayed the strike until the balloon reached the ocean for safety reasons, due to the potential for large debris falling below.

"In accordance with the President's direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement Saturday. 

"This action was taken in coordination, and with the full support, of the Canadian government," Austin added.

The latest: Crews have been pulling the balloon debris from the waters near Myrtle Beach, S.C.

U.S. Navy sailors recover pieces of the Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C, on Monday. Photo: Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images

Photo: Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images

Navy releases first photos of Chinese balloon debris

The photos offer the closest look yet at the high-altitude aircraft that has further strained relations between the two countries.

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 5, 2023, off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C. Photo: Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images

China

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday released photos of crews recovering large pieces of the Chinese balloon <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="shot down" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/04/chinese-balloon-shot-down-us-military" data-vars-content-id="abc9f57f-a8ee-4cbd-9fcd-2d964f0622c9" data-vars-headline="Navy releases first photos of Chinese balloon debris" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/04/chinese-balloon-shot-down-us-military" target="_self">shot down</a> over the Atlantic Ocean on the weekend, offering the closest look yet at the high-altitude aircraft that has further strained relations between the two countries.Why it matters: Previous photos offered only grainy depictions of the balloon, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="spotted high in the skies" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/04/what-we-know-china-balloon" data-vars-content-id="abc9f57f-a8ee-4cbd-9fcd-2d964f0622c9" data-vars-headline="Navy releases first photos of Chinese balloon debris" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/04/what-we-know-china-balloon" target="_self">spotted high in the skies</a> over the continental U.S. last week, leading to much speculation about its capabilities and purpose.

Emma Loop

Stories

Swiss bank held nearly 100 Nazi-linked accounts, senators say

Navy releases first photos of Chinese balloon debris

Top general says U.S. failed to detect previous Chinese balloons

House committee releases Trump tax returns