Post Mid-Term Trump Tax Return Release Announcement Stuns Fragile GOP

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When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail, he warily insisted that he could not hand over his income tax documents. His reason was that he was being audited, but he promised once that was over, he would release them. That must have been the longest ever IRS audit in the country. However, all that is about to change.

This president was the first commander-in-chief to withhold his documents since President Richard Nixon was in office. Democrats have voiced this promise: when they win the House and possibly the Senate, they will make POTUS release his tax returns.

What would these documents say about the commander-in-chief? For one thing, they could show any financial relationship between the Trump Organization and Russia. They could show whether or not he violated the Emoluments Clause, which demands Donald Trump not profit from foreign entities. They could also reflect whether he violated campaign laws.

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Even Minority Whip Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said, The Hill reported:

‘The American public has the right to know whether or not a president is serving his interests or the public’s interests. I think that’s something that was pretty well accepted before this president came along.’

Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX)  commented in 2017:

‘My belief is that if Congress begins to use its powers to rummage around in the tax returns of the president, what prevents Congress from doing the same to average Americans?’

One of the top Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Pascrell (NJ) said:

‘I’m definitely going to bring it up if we don’t have them by then — that’s a definite…You don’t just get the tax returns and send them out there to the public. ‘Is it a slam-dunk to get them? No. But this is the business.’

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Another Democratic member of the Ways and Means Committee, Judy Chu (CA) said Democrats are prepared to go to war over Trump’s returns:

‘Of course that’s part of cleaning up Washington, D.C. The appetite is there…The Ways and Means method would be a better way to do it.’

Yet another top Democrat on the Ways and Means, Representative panel, Danny Davis (D-IL), wants the returns released:

‘I don’t think people care much at this juncture what the president does, But I do think that people are concerned about the future of the government, and the operation of government, after the president is gone.’

Ranking member of the House Budget Committee, John Yarmuth (D-KY) said:

“I don’t think there’s any question about it.’

Another Democrat, Representative Richard Neal (MA), said:

‘You don’t just get the tax returns and send them out there to the public. Is it a slam-dunk to get them? No. But this is the business.’

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Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) added:

“I can’t see a Democrat voting against it.’

Former ethics attorney to President George W. Bush and certainly not a Trump fan said:

‘It appears that they’re closing in on the basic financial structure of the Trump Organization. Perhaps the reasons why he’s not disclosing his tax returns. And what we may find there is really quite ugly.’

Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.