Use 1924 law to obtain Trump’s tax returns

Democrats have made many attempts to get Congress to use its authority to obtain President Trump’s tax returns. More than a million people have signed a White House petition asking for the same information. So why hasn’t Congress acted? Only two Republicans have broken with their party, and they along with Democrats were thwarted again just last week.

If Congress were to “rummage around in the tax returns of the president,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady asked, what would prevent it from “doing the same to average Americans?”

According to the Supreme Court, Congress must have a legitimate reason for carrying out any investigation. But reviewing Trump’s individual and business tax returns would be the furthest thing from a wild goose chase. His business interests, including possible ties to Russia, present many potential conflicts with his duties to the American public.

Indeed, Congress created the authority in 1924 in part for exactly this purpose. Congress wanted to investigate and reveal possible conflicts of interests involving both Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and the executive branch officials involved in the Teapot Dome scandal.

Moreover, Trump’s tax returns should show how he and his businesses will be affected by any tax proposals of his administration. The leaked two pages of his 2005 tax return revealed that about 85% of his liability was due to the alternative minimum tax, which he has urged should be repealed.

Brady and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch have also suggested that the congressional authority was intended to be used only to investigate tax administration concerns, such as misconduct by federal officials or abuse of taxpayer rights. But the law contains no such limitation.

Before its passage, the president and the executive branch had an unrestricted ability to obtain anyone’s tax information. Congress approved the law to give itself the same unrestricted access.

Trump has stated that his returns are being audited by the IRS. Congress needs to make sure that the tax agency is treating him like any other taxpayer and not granting him special favors. Possible favoritism provided by the tax agency to Mellon was another worry in 1924. The parallels between the current situation and the reasons the law was created are very, very close.

Finally, the public has a right to know about the president’s taxes simply because he is now the taxpayer in chief. As many of us struggle to complete our own tax returns and pay any applicable taxes, we should receive assurance that the president is paying his fair share.

In the 1970s, Congress used its authority to investigate President Nixon’s taxes and found (and disclosed to the public) that he owed about $500,000 in additional tax.