In an early morning tweet, Donald Trump, who may have been the one to leak his 2005 tax return, blasted NBC News for reporting on said return.

Tweeted Trump: “Does anybody really believe that a reporter, who nobody ever heard of, “went to his mailbox” and found my tax returns? @NBCNews FAKE NEWS!”

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

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2017

There’s little chance that Trump has never heard of the reporter who received the returns before. David Cay Johnson told Democracy Now in September that “Donald’s had my home number for years….He’s called me at home in the past.”

And perhaps he has read some of Johnston’s reporting:

Johnston was the Atlantic City, New Jersey, bureau chief for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1988 to 1991, charting Trump’s rise and fall in the city, and he wrote about the casino mogul in his 1992 book, Temples of Chance: How America Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc. To Win Control of the Casino Business. Johnston joined The New York Times in 1995 and later won a Pulitzer at the paper for his reporting on loopholes in the U.S. tax system.

Just weeks into Trump’s candidacy, Johnston posed 21 questions in The National Memo about the Republican’s business dealings and philanthropic claims, some of which remain unanswered given Trump’s decision to break with four decades of precedent by not disclosing his tax returns. The veteran investigative journalist reported on candidate Trump for outlets such as The Daily Beast, wrote a critical biography of him and continued to dig into his past for information relevant to his race for the White House.

Meanwhile, Johnston says that his family was threatened after last night’s Rachel Maddow Show.

Tweeted Johnston: “Trump fans call & harass my wife & 1 of my children after I break story White House confirmed. Sad! Let’s have open debate, not threats.”

Added Johnston in a later tweet: “To be clear, folks, I don’t intimidate. But calls to family are out of bounds, a disturbing sign of how Trump damages civil debate.”

Trump fans call & harass my wife & 1 of my children after I break story White House confirmed. Sad! Let's have open debate, not threats.

— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) March 15, 2017

To be clear, folks, I don't intimidate. But calls to family are out of bounds, a disturbing sign of how Trump damages civil debate.

— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) March 15, 2017

Johnston also responded this morning to Trump’s Twitter attack:

Gee, Donald, your White House confirmed my story. POTUS fake Tweet. Sad! https://t.co/ibK2ApKI9E

— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) March 15, 2017

Johnston published a report on the return on his website DCReport.org. Read it here.

Photo: Twitter.

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