Rachel Maddow: Meet Geraldo Rivera

Remember years ago when Geraldo Rivera had that big TV “special” on breaking into a vault that had belonged to Al Capone and finding an empty gin bottle?

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow probably knows how lousy Geraldo felt that night when she took to the air and told a nationwide TV audience of 45 or so people that she had Donald Trump’s 2005 income tax return. Instead of an empty gin bottle, she held up Trump’s return which showed that he made about $150 million and paid about $38 million in taxes- about 25%.

Poor Rachel. With the cat out of the bag even before she went on the air, she had to go through with it even though she knew she was holding an empty gin bottle in her hands. As it was, she brought on her co-conspirator, fellow traveler David Cay Johnson (who had found the “incriminating documents” in his mailbox, don’t you know). Together, they informed the viewing public of 44 people (not counting me) that they had a First Amendment right to publish these papers (highly debatable)  and they might be evidence in that big investigation into Trump’s alleged collusion with Russian hackers to steal the election from Hillary Clinton- a full decade before Trump decided to run for president.

I hear tonight Rachel will be broadcasting from the Lexington Hotel, and her special guest will be Al Capone.