There’s zero legal nor Constitutional basis to attempt to obtain Trump’s tax returns, which would those of a private citizen at the time, but, Democrats do not care
House Democrats to seek Trump tax returns: Pelosi
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that members of congress from her party will seek to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns when they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January – a move the White House is likely to strongly resist.
The House Ways and Means Committee will “take the first steps” toward obtaining the documents, said Pelosi, who has the backing of her members to become speaker of the House next month. As it is likely to be a challenging process, it will be up to the committee to figure out how to proceed, she said.
“There is popular demand for the Congress to request the president’s tax returns,” she told reporters in the Capitol.
“I’m sure the White House will resist and so the question is where do we go from there,” she said.
Trump defied decades of tradition when he refused to release his tax records as a candidate and after his victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. No law or rule compels a president or candidate to disclose their returns, but nearly every nominee and president has done so in recent decades.
As they prepare to take over majority control of the House, Democratic leaders have tried to walk a fine line in articulating their goals. They have said they plan to pursue policies popular with their voter base, but have also said they will not shy away from examining Trump, his personal business dealings and his presidency.
It’s a witch hunt, and under the law Congress has no right to obtain the tax returns of any citizen without a damned good reason, not a fishing expedition. This may be good red meat, er, sorry, upscale tofu for the Democratic Party base, but, how will it play out in Middle America when they see the House Democrats attempt to get those private tax returns in this manner? People already see Congress as authoritarian: this would very much help Trump in 2020.
The records would provide congressional investigators from various House committees with information crucial to efforts to determine if Trump’s business generates conflicts of interest.
Witch hunt. Fishing expedition. Hypocrisy
Facing questions about why she and other top Congressional officials won’t release their tax returns, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) downplayed her previous demands for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release his, calling the issue a distraction.
As recently as Wednesday, Pelosi had strongly urged Romney to provide further disclosure of his tax returns. But today, while maintaining Romney should release more documents because of “custom†and “tradition,†Pelosi said the issue was trivial compared with economic issues.
“We spent too much time on that. We should be talking about middle-income tax cuts,†Pelosi said after answering two questions about the issue.
The Minority Leader faced questions about the issue after a McClatchy News report showed only 17 of 535 Members released their tax returns when asked.
Why isn’t she releasing her own? As well as the rest of Congress? Show the people how you become a multi-millionaire on 174K per year. Pelosi has been in office since 1987, yet has a net worth of over $29 million.
She and the other Demonutters should remember that Team Trump can use the same laws to obtain the Dems tax returns.
