Publication focuses on Luján as lawmaker who refuses to release own tax returns
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján is firmly on record as wanting President Donald Trump to release his tax returns. But a Washington, D.C., publication focused on congressional coverage reported Monday that Luján also firmly believes that members of Congress shouldn’t have to release their own tax returns.
Roll Call made Luján, a Democrat representing Northern New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, the centerpiece of an article about members of Congress who are reluctant to release their tax documents.
“Rep. Ben Ray Luján — like many in Congress — wants President Donald Trump to release his tax returns,” the article begins. “But he doesn’t want to release his own tax returns. And that puts him in good company on both sides of the aisle.”
Roll Call also noted that Luján recently posted on his Facebook page that transparency “is a cornerstone of democracy.”
While the publication says it sent requests to all members of Congress, “Only 37 responded, and of those, six provided the documents.”
The story quotes Luján spokesman Joe Shoemaker as saying, “Unlike individuals seeking the presidency, there is no tradition or precedent that necessitates the release of a member’s tax returns. If Congressman Luján decides to run for President, Roll Call will be among the first to whom we release his tax returns.”
Asked about the article, Shoemaker told The New Mexican, that “there’s an order of magnitude difference between asking a president worth billions of dollars to disclose holdings and a member of Congress whose financial disclosure form shows total assets less than like $150,000. … It’s a very different thing when we ask a president or a presidential candidate to disclose his financial entanglements so we know what his conflicts of interest are.”
No member of New Mexico’s delegation was among those who provided tax returns to Roll Call.
According to the article, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and Robert Brady, D-Pa., provided full copies of their 2016 tax returns. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., provided the first two pages of his 1040 form.
Roll Call noted that others including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., already voluntarily disclose their tax returns.