President Trump told reporters on Monday that he doesn’t care if congressional Democrats use an obscure power to obtain his tax returns.
“No, I don’t care,” Trump told reporters while campaigning in Indiana. “They can do whatever they want and I can do whatever I want.”
A little-known section of the tax code allows the chairs of different congressional tax policy committees to request and obtain tax returns for individuals or companies from the Treasury Department, including those of the president. Should Democrats gain a majority in one or both chambers of Congress the chairmen of either the House Ways and Means Committee or Senate Finance Committee would have the legal authority to request and receive that information.
What’s less clear is whether Democrats can make that information public. Leaking tax information of an individual or company can be punishable by up to five years in prison, unless the individual or company waives their right to privacy.
In an interview with the New York Times last month Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hedged on whether he would cooperate with a request, which would go directly to him. Mnuchin said that he would work with the department’s general counsel and the Internal Revenue Service’s general counsel should Democrats win a majority and use their newfound power to request that information on Trump.
