Trump's tenure spawns riddles on Census, Russia, taxes and more

Donald Trump's presidency has reached the point where his unusual political habits, messages and ways of doing things become better and better known by a wide swath of the public.

But several intriguing tales generated by this White House so far still end with a question mark.

Here are five to keep in mind as Trump-related controversies heat up:

• Taxes: Trump initially promised he would disclose his tax forms before the election, as other presidential candidates have done since the 1970s. Then he said he couldn't do so because he was under audit. Time has passed and nothing changed. His ex-attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress last week he believes there was no audit. Which revives speculation on the many possible reasons Trump still refuses disclosure.
• Anonymous author: Last September, The New York Times published an anonymous opinion piece by a person identified only as a "senior official" in the Trump administration. The person called Trump's leadership style "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective" and warned: "We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility." Trump called for a Justice Department probe, and his aides said their search for the writer was narrowing. Nothing since has surfaced.
• Census question: On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg ruled that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated the law when he added a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Political motive is suspected, since the question could suppress the count in Democratic-dominated regions. But Seeborg cited Ross' "effort to concoct a rationale bearing no plausible relation to the real reason, whatever that may be, underlying the decision." (Emphasis added.)
• Russian trolls: Special counsel Robert Mueller has yet to fully report on the matter of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. But among the many unanswered questions posed by the whole affair is who and how many people, if any, voted for Trump or shunned Hillary Clinton or vice versa based on propaganda from fake social-media accounts? Can electronic influence be teased out from the testimony of individuals? It is an enigma that prompts speculation on both sides of the political divide.
• Kushner's clearance: The House Oversight and Reform Committee is reportedly asking whether Trump fixed it so his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner would get top-secret security clearance even as the CIA pushed against it. One big mystery for the moment: What were the agency's objections in the first place? Were these related to Kushner's contacts in the Mideast and Russia? How serious is the fact that the president would overrule these concerns? One conundrum creates another on a topic like this.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.