President Trump said Wednesday that he wouldn’t release his personal tax returns or those of the Trump Organization until an audit of them is completed, as he faces the prospect of Democrats demanding the returns using their incoming majority in the House of Representatives.
“They’re under audit, they have been for a long time, they’re extremely complex, people wouldn’t understand them,” Trump said of his taxes. “Nobody turns over a return when it’s under audit.”
Every president’s tax returns are automatically under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.
A section of the tax code grants Congress the power to request tax returns and obligate the Treasury secretary to provide them.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a senior member of the House committee that has the power to request Trump’s returns, said on a press call Wednesday afternoon that request would come immediately.
“We need to give every major provision of this new tax law scrutiny that Republicans refused to provide last year,” including how Trump and his family and company may have personally benefited from the law, said Doggett. “I think it’s important for our oversight to get those tax returns.”
That said, Doggett anticipated the administration might attempt to fight the request.
“I’m confident that this president who’s had no oversight will feel that he’s above the law on this also,” the Texas Democrat said.
On Monday, a Treasury Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that “Secretary Mnuchin will review any request with the Treasury General Counsel for legality.” It’s unclear on what legal grounds Mnuchin could deny those records.
Trump added that if he finished the audit, which he won’t while in office, he would have “an open mind.”
