A congressional committee chairman with the authority to request tax returns said Tuesday that Democrats would seek President Trump’s information despite the special counsel report summary that cleared Trump of collusion with Russia.
Rep. Richard Neal D-Mass., said his committee requests Trump’s tax returns.
“No, I committed to this. This is a policy issue. This is not just about one individual, this is a policy issue. We think that there’s a test here of the law,” said Neal to reporters on Tuesday, referring in part to reports that Trump may have committed tax fraud.
“You never heard me say a word here except: ‘Let Mueller finish his work,’” Neal said.
Asked whether Neal might structure his request to the Treasury Department so that the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation would review the president’s returns, Neal said there would be precedent to do so, though he declined to go into specifics because he anticipates a court challenge from the administration.
“There’s precedent for Joint Tax with the Nixon years,” said Neal, referring to the JCT’s 1974 review of former President Richard Nixon’s taxes, which found that he underpaid. “But remember the most important issue here is that every president since Gerald Ford has submitted their taxes.”
It’s possible the JCT may have already reviewed Trump’s return for one year, 2008 or 2009. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Trump bragged to him about a $10 million tax refund in one of those years. A refund of that size would, by law, trigger an automatic review by the JCT to determine whether tax laws are working in the way they’re intended.
More businesses reported net operating losses in 2008 and 2009, as the housing market collapsed and the recession hit.
[Opinion: Trump tax returns: House Democrats ready for ultimate fishing expedition]
