Trump blasts release of leaked 2005 tax forms

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took to Twitter early Wednesday to sound off about the release of a portion of his 2005 income tax return.

"Does anybody really believe that a reporter, who nobody ever heard of, 'went to his mailbox' and found my tax returns?" he wrote, adding, "@NBCNews FAKE NEWS!"

>> See the tweet here

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow announced Tuesday that she had obtained parts of

and discussed them on her show with

founder and former New York Times reporter

, who said he found the leaked documents in his mailbox. He said he did not know who sent him the forms.

The two summary pages show that Trump earned $153 million that year and paid $38 million in taxes, including $31 million in alternative minimum tax.

>> See the forms here

The leaked pages did not include information about Trump's sources of income or charitable donations.

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The White House released the following statement before Maddow's show aired:

"You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago. Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.

"That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million even after taking into account large-scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes, and this illegally published return proves just that. Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the president will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans."

>> See the statement here

Cox Media Group