Democrats are turning up the pressure as Americans across the country are demanding to see Trump’s tax returns after his summit fiasco with Putin.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor,”We need to see the President’s tax returns, the common practice of all presidents in recent memory, but needed far more, now because one of the most logical explanations of the president’s obsequious and almost inexplicable actions towards President Putin is that Putin has something over on him. Maybe it would be revealed in the tax returns, and if nothing is there the president should have no problem releasing them.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting, “The president’s refusal to adhere to a 40-year plus, bipartisan, pro-transparency tradition of releasing tax returns, after what happened this Monday, can go on no longer.”
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said during a House Ways and Means Committee meeting, “This committee could act right now to hold this president to account,†he said. “We must know if Mr. Putin has compromised our commander in chief.”
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
However, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) admitted that House Republicans have zero interest in looking into Trump’s tax returns. The dividing line is clear. Democrats and the majority of Americans want to see Trump’s tax returns. A 2017 ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 74% of Americans want Trump’s tax returns released. These numbers have remained steady since Trump first refused to release them as a candidate, but Trump’s subservience to Putin during their summit has added new urgency to the calls.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller likely already has Trump’s tax returns. He probably already knows where the bodies are buried as he is putting the pieces of his investigation together, but for a nation looking for answers for why the president looks owned by Putin, the tax returns might be the key that unlocks Trump’s darkest secrets.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
