Deadline passes for Trump’s taxes
Democrats’ demands for his returns go unmet
WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would not release President Donald Trump’s tax returns on Tuesday, missing the second deadline set by Congress for the department to hand over the documents, and instead said his department would offer a final decision on the matter by May 6.
In a five-page letter, which was followed by five pages of public statements by Democrats about the president’s taxes, Mnuchin outlined his concerns over releasing six years of the president’s tax returns and said the White House needed to wait for guidance from the Justice Department.
“History demonstrates that private tax return information is susceptible to abuse for partisan purposes – regardless of which party is in power,” Mnuchin wrote. “Unless carefully restrained by law, this risk threatens the privacy of all taxpayers.”
Mnuchin detailed both the constitutional concerns and his department’s worries with releasing the president’s financial information and accused Democrats of trying to skirt the law in order to obtain the documents, something they have been after since even before Trump was elected.
Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., made the original request for Trump’s tax returns to the IRS, which is housed under the Treasury Department, on April 3. He invoked a law allowing a select few members of Congress to review individual tax returns for legislative purposes and cited legislative proposals and oversight related to federal tax laws as his reasoning.
It was the first such demand for a sitting president’s tax information in 45 years.
“I plan to consult with counsel about my next steps,” Neal said in response to Mnuchin’s letter Tuesday.
Neal is one of only three congressional officials authorized under the 1924 law to make a written request to the treasury secretary for anyone’s tax returns. The law says the treasury secretary “shall furnish” the material to members of the committee for them to examine behind closed doors.
Trump was the first president in modern history who did not release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit.