Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dems zero in on Trump’s taxes
House request likely to include 10 years of president’s returns
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are likely to request 10 years of President Donald Trump’s tax returns in coming weeks, tailoring their inquiry in a way they hope will survive a court battle, according to lawmakers and others involved in the discussions.
The 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.
But Democrats led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, DMass., along with congressional lawyers, are in the advanced stages of preparing the request.
Democrats are relying on a 1924 law that gives chairmen of House and Senate tax-writing
committees broad powers to demand the tax returns of White House officials.
They said they are being deliberate so as not to make a mistake that jeopardizes the investigation.
“If we had done this a month and a half ago, we would not be prepared, we would be falling on our face, and we’d be looking at the rationale for what we’re doing,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., who, along with some other Democrats, has pushed for congressional action to get at the tax returns practically since Trump took office.
“Would I have liked it to go faster? I started two years ago. Yes, of course,” he said.
In another front in the escalating war between House Democrats and the Trump administration, the White House has rebuffed a request for documents pertaining to the security clearance process, a move that drastically increases the chances of a subpoena from the House.
In a letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said the committee request for the information was “without legal support, clearly premature, and suggests a breach of the constitutionally required accommodation process.”
Rather, Cipollone said his staff would brief the panel and allow them to view documents related to their investigation.
That offer has not been sufficient for committee Democrats in the past.
The standoff comes days after reports that Trump directed his then-chief of staff John Kelly to give the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a security clearance despite concerns from the intelligence community.
In a statement, Cummings rejected the White House lawyer’s assertion that Congress doesn’t have jurisdiction over security clearance matters.
“There is a key difference between a president who exercises his authority under the Constitution and a president who overrules career experts and his top advisers to benefit his family members and then conceals his actions from the American people,” Cummings said. “The White House’s argument defies the constitutional separation of powers, decades of precedent before this committee, and just plain common-sense.”
Trump has made clear to associates that he has no plans to allow Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to turn over his personal tax records, according to three people who have been briefed on the discussions but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The 1924 law does not appear to give Mnuchin much flexibility to deny a congressional request, as the law says he “shall” turn over the records.
But if he refuses, Democrats would probably try to compel Mnuchin to comply by filing a lawsuit in federal court. That could drag the process out for months, or more than a year.
Congressional leaders have never used the 1924 law to seek the tax returns of a sitting president, but there has also not been a president in recent history who has refused to disclose his tax returns.
House Democrats included a new requirement for presidential candidates to release 10 years’ worth of personal tax returns in sweeping legislation on campaign finance and government ethics they plan to pass this week, although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has made clear he won’t take up the bill.
Meanwhile, the House intelligence committee, which has been examining possible ties between Trump, his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, has hired a former federal prosecutor with a history of trying securities fraud, racketeering and international organized crime to lead its investigation, the panel announced Tuesday.
Daniel Goldman oversaw prosecutions of Russian organized crime networks during his 10 years in the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Trump lashed out at House Democratic leaders Tuesday, saying they had “gone stone cold CRAZY” by launching such farreaching corruption probes.
In morning tweets, Trump asserted that letters sent Monday demanding documents from 81 people associated with him were meant to harass “innocent people” and were borne of frustration among Democrats for not being able to prove coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 presidential election.”
“81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them,” Trump wrote. “They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!”
In subsequent tweets, Trump accused Democrats of conducting a “big, fat, fishing expedition” and wrote in all capital letters, “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!”