Donald Trump’s treasury secretary informed the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee he would not meet the Wednesday’s deadline to hand over the president’s tax returns.
In a politically-charged letter informing Chairman Richard E. Neal the Treasury Department would not finish its review of his request for Trump’s private tax return information by April 10, Secretary Steve Mnuchin attacked House Democrats for demanding the president’s “confidential” information and cited the previous Republican leaders of the Ways and Means Committee to justify not fulfilling their request.
“In the last Congress, the Committee on Ways and Means issued a formal report concerning a House resolution of inquiry seeking information substantially similar to the information you request,” Mnuchin wrote. “The Committee determined that such a request would be an ‘abuse of authority’ and ‘set a dangerous precedent by targeting a single individual’s confidential tax returns and associated financial documents for disclosure’ for political reasons.”
Mnuchin argued the law being cited by House Democrats, according to the previous Congress, “may not be used ‘for purposes of embarrassing or attacking political figures of another party.'” Mnuchin also quoted Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as describing the requests for Trump’s tax returns as “lacking the requisite ‘legitimate political purpose’ and as ‘Nixonian to the core.'”
“You too have acknowledged the unprecedented nature of this request. As you stated in October 2018 with respect to this long-planned inquiry, ‘[t]his has never happened before, so you want to be very meticulous.’ We share that caution, and we agree that this is not a routine section 6103(f) request. The Committee’s request raises serious issues concerning the constitutional scope of Congressional legislative authority, the legitimacy of the asserted legislative purpose and the constitutional rights of American citizens,” Mnuchin added. “The legal implications of this request could affect protections for all Americans against politically-motivated disclosures of personal tax information, regardless of which party is in power.”
The defiant tone of Mnuchin’s letter was foreshadowed on Tuesday when he appeared before the House Appropriations Committee.
“There is a requirement for presidents to have financial disclosure. I believe this president has complied with that, as other people, and the general public when they elected President Trump made the decision to elect him without his tax returns being released,” Mnuchin told the committee.
He later added, “I am sure there are many prominent Democrats who are relieved that when Kevin Brady was chairman of the [House Ways and Means] committee that he didn’t request specific returns. But anyway, it is a pleasure to be here with you today.”
In a statement last week, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass. explained that “I today submitted to IRS Commissioner Rettig my request for six years of the president’s personal tax returns, as well as the returns for some of his business entities. We have completed the necessary groundwork for a request of this magnitude, and I am certain we are within our legitimate legislative, legal and oversight rights.”
In response to this, Trump told reporters that “we’re under audit despite what people said. We’re working that out, as I’m always under audit, it seems. But I’ve been under audit, because the numbers are big. And I guess when you have a name, you’re audited. But until such time as I’m not under audit, I would not be inclined to do that.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy