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Tim O’Brien-one of the few to see Trump’s tax returns says that we all should see them. Trump seems to really believe or want to believe that he’s a political genius. He believes he has exceptional political instincts. But his suing O’Brien in 2005 because his book strongly suggested Trump is not a billionaire was not an inspired decision. Evidently, as usual, Trump didn’t consider the discovery process before going off all half cocked. As much litigation as he’s been involved in that’s a puzzle; my explanation is that he simply doesn’t think anything through once he thinks of doing it.

If you want to sue someone for libel you have to prove what they wrote is false. So when he sued O’Brien he took on the task of having to prove he actually was a billionaire. To do this, he had to show the court and O’Brien-who he’d sued-his tax returns. As Homer would say ‘Doh!’

How we can see Trump’s tax returns isn’t complicated-a Democratic House could acquire and publicly release Trump’s tax returns in a matter of hours on the House floor-the IRS has to present any tax return Congress asks for.

If last night is any indication, we will soon see Trump’s tax returns. David Jolly the former Florida Republican put it this way on Lawrence O’Donnell last night: the Democrats should start discussing who they want for Speaker.

UPDATE: Looking back from the flip side of November 6, we want and need Pelosi.

Yes it appears that Republican Troy Balderson is going to just squeak by in last nights special election in Ohio’s District 12, but this is a district the GOP has had a lock on going back to the 1980 and they won this seat in 2016 by 39 points. Now Balderson is up by only seven tenths of a percent. No way should this district be this close. 

“Tuesday night ended with Troy Balderson narrowly ahead in the closely watched special election for a congressional seat in Ohio, and Republicans — including President Donald Trump — declaring victory.”

“But the photo finish — Balderson is ahead by 1,754 votes, with thousands of absentee and provisional ballots left to tally — in what has been a solid-GOP district shouldn’t provide much comfort for the party as it clings to an increasingly fragile House majority.”

“It’s likely Balderson is coming to Congress next month, and his apparent victory over O’Connor gives him a leg up in the general election rematch, making it more difficult for Democrats to flip the district in 13 weeks.”

Yep-Balderson and O’Connor do it again in 13 weeks(!)

The Republican cavalry came for Troy Balderson. But, come November, the weak will be left on the battlefield.

“The National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.3 million. Congressional Leadership Fund, the top House GOP super PAC, spent $3.2 million.”

“It was likely enough to vault Balderson over the top. But Republicans running in competitive districts against well-funded Democrats shouldn’t expect the same level of support.”

“Exactly-Trump came in, Kasich campaigned hard for Balderson, the NRCC and CLF spent big dollars on his behalf and he squeaked through. But what about the 65 seats currently held by GOPers in districts less red than Ohio 12?”

But it’s not just the Ohio vote-the results of Washington are also very disconcerting for Republicans.

“It’s going to take a few weeks for Washington State to finish counting its ballot: Under the mail-only system, voters can mail their ballots as late as Election Day.”

“But the early results — about two-thirds of the vote was tallied Tuesday night — are encouraging for Democrats’ chances to take back the House. Washington uses the same top-two, all-party primary as California, and the vote totals serve as a blinking red light on the GOP midterm dashboard.”

“In three targeted congressional districts, Republicans struggled to earn a majority of the vote, even in places that haven’t been competitive in past election cycles. The marquee race in the state is Washington’s 8th District, where Dino Rossi, the three-time GOP statewide candidate, finished first in the primary.”

“Rossi and the two other, minor Republicans on the ballot accounted for just 47 percent of the vote — 10 points shy of retiring GOP Rep. Dave Reichert’s vote share in the primary two years ago. Reichert did increase his vote share in the general election, winning 60 percent to 40 percent, and it appears Rossi will need a similar overperformance against his yet-to-be-determined Democratic opponent — either pediatrician Kim Schrier or attorney Jason Rittereiser — to keep the seat in GOP hands in the fall.”