Don't be fooled

This strikes me as pathetic. What with the rising tide of evidence and speculation about Russian ties and collusion, Trump's tax lawyers have released a one-page letter that says, inter alia, that - subject to specified exceptions - his last ten years' tax returns do not show "(1) any income of any type from Russian sources, (2) any debt owed ... to Russian lenders or any interest paid ... to Russian lenders, (3) any equity investments by Russian persons or entities ... or (4) any equity or debt investments ... in Russian entities."

Sorry, guys, but without more information this is bordering on meaningless. I'm willing to accept that the lawyers probably wouldn't have signed this letter unless they felt that it was literally true - but they, or someone in the Trump camp, have chosen the terms to use and have their own definitions of those terms. They have decided what to say and what not to say.

Just for a couple of possibilities that don't seem to be ruled out here, what about U.S. entities owned by Russian people? What about entities or people from Russian allies or satellites or countries from the former Soviet Union? What about intermediaries more generally?

You can't pick your own questions to ask, based on your own definitions of terms, and expect other people to be gullible enough to draw the conclusions you want. It's too manipulated; too un-open. Even follow-up questions might not help enough here. We shouldn't be playing blind man's buff.

If you want people to draw favorable conclusions about a lack of distressing financial ties, do what every other presidential candidate for many decades has done - release the actual tax returns.

This type of modified limited hangout is so Nixonian that it makes me more suspicious, not less.

UPDATE: Here is a nice illustration of why the tax lawyers' letter is so misleading.