Opinion: The silly ways Republicans will defend keeping Trump’s tax returns secret
President Trump at the White House. By Paul Waldman Paul Waldman Opinion writer covering politics Email Bio Follow Opinion writer March 5 at 3:35 PM President Trump really, really doesn’t want the public to see his tax returns. To keep them from view, he has endured a controversy that has now been running for three years, with all the attendant bad publicity and persistent questions, so it was obviously worth a great deal of political risk to make sure they remained secret.
The exact parameters of the request are still in flux, including whether to seek tax returns related to Trump’s many business enterprises in addition to his personal returns. When the Ways and Means Committee requests the returns, Trump apparently intends to order the treasury secretary to order the Internal Revenue Service to refuse to comply with the request, which will then set off a legal battle that will inevitably end up before the Supreme Court. If any kind of rational conception of law were to carry the day, Trump would lose by a 9-to-0 vote. The law in question is unambiguous: Congress can request any person’s tax returns.
Democrats are just hoping to find something incriminating! Indeed, they are. Just as the cops are hoping to find something incriminating when they search a suspect’s house. But if the search is legitimate and is carried out professionally, that’s perfectly fine. And if nothing incriminating is found, won’t Trump be vindicated?
Trump has a right to privacy! Not really. We ask presidents to give up their privacy in all kinds of ways — including by filing financial disclosures — because the stakes for the country are extremely high. But Trump’s finances are so complex, and the consequences of corruption in his position so profound, that only his tax returns can give us something like a full picture of whether he has conflicts of interest.
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