We are firm believers in common sense, and Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns just doesn’t pass the common sense test.
And you know this is true because if a certain former Democratic president had adopted Trump’s stance, the GOP and its media allies would be caterwauling incessantly.
So, we think that Democrats in the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, led now by Congressman Richard Neal of Springfield, have every reason to demand those returns – despite what some Republican apologists for Trump are saying now that power is in Democratic hands.
They have the legal authority and compelling reasons to see that financial information that virtually every other president in the modern era, and many candidates, have released to the public. Why have they done this? To offer total transparency to the public about what conflicts of interests they might have that would inappropriately influence their actions in office. It’s the same reason that most presidents – but not Donald Trump – have divested or placed in blind holdings their businesses or financial investments.
Seeking Trump’s returns is not a fishing expedition but a common sense way to get assurances that Trump is truthful in saying there’s nothing to see here. We could get answers to questions like how did Trump benefit – or get hurt as he once suggested – by last year’s tax cut for the rich and corporations? Does he have personal foreign entanglements with Russians or other countries or people that could influence the decisions he makes as president on our behalf?
Trump has never offered a good reason for his secrecy: He has most often said he can’t release the information because of an audit, but there is no rule or law forbidding him releasing his returns, audit or not. Other times he has said the returns are too complex for people to understand and that no one really cares except reporters. That’s no reason not to release them either.
Two Republican congressmen last week complained to Neal in a letter about moves to get the returns, lamely invoking the slippery slope argument – that somehow lawfully seeking the president’s returns would lead to Congress publicizing everyone’s returns. Such disingenuous nonsense.
We are glad that with political balance restored in Congress, that Neal and his committee are moving forward with plans to subpoena Trump’s tax returns – even though it will likely result in a nasty and prolonged legal fracas.
Neal, whose 1st Congressional District includes much of western Franklin County, is in the process of consulting with lawyers from the U.S. House and the Joint Committee on Taxation “to determine the appropriate legal steps to go forward with this unprecedented request,” an aide told the Associated Press recently.
He said “a strong case is being built,” and Neal “will continue to conduct this process in a judicious, methodical and deliberative manner.”
As much as we’d prefer to just demand the returns and start this legal wrangle sooner rather than later, we do appreciate the idea of taking a careful approach that will assure legal success in the longer term.
As we so often say about this president: what’s he trying to hide?
It’s important for the nation to learn what we can about the president’s possible foreign and financial entanglements – or perhaps, to clear the cloud of suspicion he has created by casting a smokescreen around his finances.
