The battle over Amy Coney Barrett is pretty much over before it begins. That story is so Saturday. The new battle is over President Trump’s taxes.

I don’t mean to make light of the fight that will shift the Supreme Court substantially to the right. I also believe that Barrett, with her seven children, is emerging as a cultural icon for conservative women. But the fact that the Senate is holding the pre-election vote at all shows that the Republicans have the numbers to confirm her.

By yesterday the media were buzzing not just about today’s first presidential debate, but about a massive New York Times treatise on Trump’s tax returns that require CPA-level skills to fully decipher.

The two main takeaways from the records: Donald Trump paid remarkably little in taxes over a 15-year period, and he and his companies are under considerable financial stress.

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How much will this affect the election? I’d say barely at all.

These are eye-popping revelations, but most people won’t wade through the details, which are complicated as hell. And even the Times doesn’t claim that Trump broke any laws. He took advantage of a labrynth of legal deductions that are available to people who traffic in real estate and investments–unfairly, in my view, but that’s the system approved by Congress. Who wants to pay more taxes than they have to? Amazon paid no federal income taxes for three years, and it’s got plenty of company.

Are there some eye-catching findings here buried in all the prose? Sure. In 10 out of 15 years, the Times says, Trump paid no federal income taxes at all. In 2016 and 2017, he paid $750 in federal income taxes.

That’s not going to sit well with people struggling to pay their bills and taxes, especially since the president’s major tax cut was tilted toward the wealthy. But most of those people weren’t going to vote for Trump anyway.

The gossip factor is pretty high here, such as that Trump more than $400 million on the Apprentice, and spent $70,000 to style his hair for the show. Various Trump entities paid more than $90,000 to a hair stylist who is a favorite of Ivanka Trump.

His Washington hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, the renovated Old Post Office, lost $55 million between 2016 and 2018.

His Mar-a-Lago estate has been a fountain of deductions, including $109,000 for linens and silver and $198,000 for landscaping in 2017.

But we sort of knew from previous reporting that Trump legally skates on lots of taxes. What’s really newsworthy here, in my view, is the financial pressures that the former celebrity businessman is now facing.

Over the next four years, more than $300 million in loans will come due, and Trump is personally responsible for the debts.

He has been battling the IRS over the legitimacy of a $72-million tax deduction, and losing that fight would cost him bigly.

Several of his golf courses are bleeding cash.

While Trump has started no new foreign ventures as president, he gets $3 million in licensing income from the Philippines, more than $2 million from India and $1 million from Turkey–raising obvious conflict-of-interest questions.

But these are all questions about the future. The real estate business is a high-wire act. Trump’s empire was threatened when his New Jersey casinos went bankrupt and he still managed to survive.

If he did better at playing a successful businessman on NBC than being on in real life, I don’t think that changes many votes four years into his presidency.

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Trump on Sunday called the report “totally fake news,” adding that “the IRS does not treat me well.” He said he pays a lot in taxes, including New York state taxes.

Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told the Times that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.” He insisted that Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in “personal taxes” to the federal government, although this could be different than the business taxes at issue here.

Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet says “some will raise questions about publishing the president’s personal tax information. But the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment allows the press to publish newsworthy information that was legally obtained by reporters even when those in power fight to keep it hidden.”

That’s true. But even though Trump should have made his own disclosure four years ago, it still feels like dirty pool that someone’s personal financial information can be leaked this way.

The juicy details are great fodder for the Democrats, and could come up in the debate. But given the seismic impact of the pandemic, my guess is that most voters will be more concerned about their own finances than Donald Trump’s.

An explosive wildfire that’s raging in areas north of San Francisco has damaged iconic landmarks in the famed Napa Valley region, including wineries and parts of a luxury resort.

Cal Fire said Monday night the Glass Fire that’s raging through Napa and Sonoma counties has tripled in size, burning at least 36,236 acres while remaining 0% contained.

“The fire has expanded into Sonoma County at a dangerous rate of spread,” the agency said.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE DANGER PROMPTS POWER SHUTOFFS AS PG&E REDUCES SCALE, SAN DIEGO COULD BE IMPACTED

As of Monday night, officials said that 113 structures have been destroyed and over 8,500 are threatened by the blaze, which began on Sunday and quickly spread.

Flames from the blaze reached the Meadowood Napa Valley Resort in St. Helena.

Firefighters tried to save it but a spokesman for the luxury hotel told KTVU FOX 2 that several buildings on the 250-acre property were damaged, including the main one that houses its Michelin three-star restaurant.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner tweeted a video Monday saying that “most of the large buildings are standing, but the tennis complex is on fire.”

Luke Wagner with the Big Bear Fire Department told FOX40 his team arrived at the Meadowood Resort with swirling winds, falling ash and lots of smoke to try and save what they could.

“Was impacted pretty well by fire at that point but we had a 20-person strike team that we sent up there to get to work on it. Thought we put in some pretty darn good work. We worked on it for about two hours to get the fire taken care of,” Wagner told FOX40.

Not far from the Meadowood Estate, a portion of the castle at the world-famous Tuscany-style Castello di Amarosa in Calistoga was damaged by flames.

Owner Dario Sattui told KGO-TV he “should have stayed up all night” and didn’t think the flames would jump a highway.

“The lab is gone, offices are gone, the wine was destroyed,” Sattui said.

WILDFIRES CHOKE WEST COAST VINEYARDS, ‘WET ASHTRAY’ WINE GRAPES LEFT FOR BIRDS

The mansion-like Chateau Boswell winery in St. Helena also went up in flames on Sunday night.

The winery is a familiar landmark along the Silverado Trail road running the length of the Napa Valley.

The luxury resort Calistoga Ranch was also impacted, with ranch spokesperson Jessica Rothschild telling SF Gate the five-star resort was “extensively damaged by the fire.”

Photos from state Sen. Bill Dodd show some of the destroyed structures on the property.

This latest blaze struck midway through the region’s traditional grape-harvesting season, with many growers saying they would forgo a 2020 vintage.

The 475 vintners in Napa Valley alone account for just 4% of the state’s grape harvest but, according to Reuters, half the retail value of all California wines sold.

Lamborn Family Vineyards, located east of St. Helena, is also at risk from the second fire in a month after the LNU Fire. Smoke from that blaze tainted its entire crop, so there will be no 2020 vintage.

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“If we lost our property that would be icing on the cake,” Brian Lamborn of Lamborn Family Vineyards told KTVU. “It’s a huge loss for anyone but for Lamborn family, a small family winery it would be truly devastating.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in three counties — Napa, Sonoma and Shasta — because of the Glass Fire and Zogg Fire further up north.

Utility Pacific Gas and Electric said 37,000 customers were without power in the areas of the fire by Monday evening.

In Napa County, there were 288 customers whose power had been intentionally cut as a public safety power shutoff while the rest were caused by fires.

The Glass Fire is one of nearly 30 wildfires burning around California, and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that hot, dry conditions with strong Santa Ana winds could remain a fire danger in Southern California into Tuesday.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fires in Northern California killed three people, destroyed homes, and prompted thousands to evacuate in a state already impacted by wildfires in recent months.

Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini said three people died as a result of the Zogg Fire, which spread over 23 square miles by Monday and saw more than 1,200 people evacuated in Shasta County. The fast-moving Glass Fire in Napa County also erupted on Sunday, with the cause for both fires under investigation.

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Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is causing an uproar among Democrats and according to Tucker Carlson, her happy family is what’s driving them crazy.

“Democrats know Amy Coney Barrett’s life refutes the lies they have pushed on the rest of us for decades, [so] they must destroy her personally,” the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host said Monday night. “Her happiness — her family’s happiness — is evidence that they are frauds.”

Carlson surveyed Barrett’s qualifications to fill the seat once held by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, qualifications that include having clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, being confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an appellate court judge and raising seven children.

Barret may be the “most impressive person” to receive this nomination, Carlson said, but she’s driving the Democrats “completely insane” because she’s happy and they’re not.

JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT’S SISTER VOWS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE WILL ‘NOT IMPART HER OWN BELIEFS’

“Even though on some level, Democrats understand rationally it’s a very bad idea to attack a woman for her family or religious faith, they can’t help themselves,” he said. “So they’re doing it. Amy Coney Barrett represents everything that made this a great country. Therefore, they despise her.”

Several mainstream media outlets have scrutinized Barrett for her Catholic faith, with a particular focus on her membership in the People of Praise organization.

However, according to Carlson, the group is hardly a “fringe sect” since it was born out of the Charismatic Renewal Movement, which has tens of millions of followers — including liberals.

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“Attacking Christianity is the point of this,” the host said. “Why do they hate Christianity? Because at its core, Christianity is a threat to the left because it acknowledges an authority higher than the Democratic National Committee.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign didn’t waste any time to quickly spotlight a viral report from the New York Times on President Trump’s taxes.

The report – which Trump labeled “fake news” – details how the president didn’t pay federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years.

TRUMP CALLS STORY THAT HE AVOIDED PAYING TAXES ‘FAKE NEWS’

Just a few hours after the release of the report on Sunday,  the former vice president’s campaign started selling merchandise – T-shirts, buttons, and stickers – that say “I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump.”

And Biden’s campaign also quickly posted a video on Twitter that compares how much in taxes Americans such as teachers, firefighters and nurses typically pay compared to the president.

”Teachers paid $7,239. Firefighters paid $5,283. Nurses paid $10,216. Donald Trump paid $750,” the Biden campaign spotlighted in a tweet that showcased the 30-second spot.

As of Monday early evening, the video had more than 3.4 million views on Twitter. The former vice president’s campaign on Monday also spotlighted a tax calculator, tweeting “How much more did you pay in taxes than President Trump? Head to http://JoeBiden.com/TrumpTaxes to find out.”

The president – holding a press conference less than an hour after the story broke – lambasted the report, saying “It’s fake news, it’s totally made up.”

According to the New York Times report, Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid $750 in taxes to the federal government the year he was elected and $750 again his first year in office.

The disclosure, which the Times said comes from tax return data extending over two decades, comes at a pivotal moment ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday and during a combustible, divisive election.

Trump, whose net worth is claimed to be in the billions, denied that he paid such a small amount in taxes.

“I’ve paid a lot and I’ve paid a lot of state income taxes too,” he said.

A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, also denied to the New York Times that the president paid such a small amount of taxes – saying in a statement obtained by Fox News that Trump “has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.”

“The New York Times’ story is riddled with gross inaccuracies. Over the past decade the President has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government,” Garten said. “While we tried to explain this to the Times, they refused to listen and rejected our repeated request that they show us any of the documentation they purport to be relying on to substantiate their claims.”

He added: “Obviously this is just part of the Times’ ongoing smear campaign in the run up to the election.”

The president on Monday continued to fire back at the report.

“The Fake News Media, just like Election time 2016, is bringing up my Taxes & all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent. I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits…..” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.

The firestorm over the report continued on Monday.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report