1 big thing: The NYT got Fred Trump's tax returns
The N.Y. Times has published a mammoth story, based on confidential Fred Trump documents and tax returns, into how Donald Trump built his fortune.
- The Times reports that the president “participated in dubious tax
schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that
greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.” - Charles Harder, a lawyer for Trump, said in a statement to the paper: “The New York Times’s allegations of fraud and tax evasion are 100 percent false, and highly defamatory ... There was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone.”
Why it matters: The documents suggest Fred Trump provided his son with as much as $60.7 million in loans ($140 million if adjusted for inflation), in contrast to Trump's suggestion he only received $1 million.

Details from the story:
- "All told, The Times documented 295 distinct streams of revenue Fred Trump created over five decades to channel wealth to his son."
- "When Fred Trump died in June 1999 at the age of 93, the vast bulk of his empire was nowhere to be found in his estate — testament to the success of the tax strategies devised by the Trumps in the early 1990s."
- The New York Times found that Trump received the equivalent of $413 million after questionable tax dealings with this father’s real estate empire during the 1990s.
- Helped by a variety of tax dodges, the Trumps paid $52.2 million, or about 5%.
- The IRS reportedly provided little pushback against the Trumps' tactics.
- Trump reportedly tried to change his father's will when he was sick to benefit himself.
- His father was “alarmed and angered, feared could result in his empire’s being used to bail out his son’s failing businesses.”
Among the juiciest lines:
- “By age 3, [Donald Trump] was earning $200,000 a year in today’s dollars from his father’s empire. He was a millionaire by age 8. In his 40s and 50s, he was receiving more than $5 million a year.”
- Fred Trump illegally purchased $3.5 million in casino chips at his son's casino in 1990, ultimately paying a $65,000 fine.
The bottom line: Fred Trump's documents reveal he acted like the stereotype of a rich person, using every possible legal tax loophole (along with some that were less than legal) to pass his fortune to his children.
What's next: "The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation," a spokesman from New York State Department of Taxation and Finance told CNBC.
Go deeper: Full Times story ... NYT takeaways ... Trump statement
Bonus: Pic du jour

Hillary Clinton speaks at The Atlantic Festival today in D.C.
2. What you missed
- The FDA seized thousands of pages of documents from Juul's San Fransisco headquarters, the agency said today.
- Amazon is increasing its minimum wage to $15 an hour for part-time, full-time, temporary and seasonal workers in the U.S. starting November 1. Go deeper.
- Chinese streaming company Tencent Music has filed to go public in the United States. Go deeper.
- How online propaganda weaponized social media: "Russia is not the full story," Peter Singer tells Axios. "Russia is just a chapter in a larger book." Go deeper.
- Tesla met its Q3 production targets on Model 3 sedans: The company produced 53,239 Model 3 sedans in the third quarter and delivered 55,840.
- P.S. Here's a timeline of the Kavanaugh allegations, as they've unfolded this year.
3. 1 timely thing
Time's Up, the movement advocating for safer work spaces for women in the entertainment industry, has hired WNBA President Lisa Borders as its first CEO, Vanity Fair reports.
- “I was being not just invited, but encouraged—implored—to step forward and be part of this transformational change for women,” Borders told the publication.
- Shonda Rhimes quote: “Lisa has the qualities I wanted most, which is proven experience and commitment to gender and inclusion issues, and an amazing track record moving the needle of change.”