And Ms. Maddow’s opening monologue raised lingering questions about links between Mr. Trump and Russia — questions
that no simple 1040 form, like the one sent to Mr. Johnston, could address.
I definitely feel like, hey, if you’re new, let me meet you where you are.”
Ultimately, the reporting that Ms. Maddow eventually aired on Tuesday night’s show — two pages from a single, decade-old federal tax return — was less groundbreaking than the mere fact
that a portion of the president’s records had surfaced at all.
With a single tweet on Tuesday, Ms. Maddow, the MSNBC anchor, set the political world ablaze, announcing at 7:36 p.m.
that she was poised to reveal previously unseen tax records from President Trump on her 9 p.m. program.