The House released copies of Trump’s taxes today, finally, on December 30th, 2022. By tradition and what is fair to the country, those tax returns should have been released amidst the Republican primaries in 2016 and annually as president. Tax records and financial statements are provided to prove one has been fair and legal. More importantly, they establish any possible conflicts which must be addressed, or they could interfere with the job. Trump opponents lived with that fear for four years, and the concerns linger today. Does he still have problematic conflicts?
We will almost surely find out. The House Oversight Committee wrote a statement, which – in part, said: Transcript from Mediaite:
“Ways and Means is entrusted with great responsibilities. Today, the weight of our job is heavy. Congress serves as a check on the Executive Branch, and our Committee is entrusted with oversight of our revenue system. We all come to Ways and Means with the goal of creating a fairer tax code. Because at the root of it all, it is our federal tax system that funds the democracy we all cherish and love.
Trump’s response was much more interesting.
Keep in mind that not only did Trump not divulge his taxes prior to running, but he wasn’t audited, as the law requires, while in office. There are clearly problems with Trump’s taxes, whether they just embarrass him because they show he’s not as rich as he claimed, or worse, those conflicts.
Even more fascinating is that Trump says that the release is going to cause horrible problems for “many people,” which makes no sense at all. For decades, people running for president put out their taxes and their full medical records.
Trump published his response in a formal statement:
“The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people. The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The radical, left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”
Why is it a dangerous two-way street? Not only have the Democrats published their tax returns, but every Republican did, too. Moreover, most members of Congress from both sides put out their tax returns, and so does every non-elected employee seeking a security clearance for special access (Jared and Ivanka famously couldn’t pass). SCOTUS judges get an even closer look. It may cause horrible problems for Trump but it’s hard to figure our why it would be to anyone else.
The other thing that made Trump’s refusal that much worse is that not only did Trump not put his holdings in a blind trust, but it would also have been impossible for him to do so. He plants his name on every real estate holding. It leads to conflicts as minor as demanding to hold the G-7 at Doral to possible major issues like conflicts with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and India (Where he has more branded properties than any other country).
It will take experts weeks to even come up with a general assessment and months to provide a full report. But it will “cause a lot of problems” and show that he’s highly successful. Well, okay then. Perhaps he could’ve discussed those problems up front without publishing the taxes?
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak: SUBSTACK, Democrats Could Dominate for Two Decades if They Handle 2023 Correctly.
Oh no. Are you sure the supposedly impartial IRS didn’t follow the law? You mean like they DID for Obama & Biden? Like they audited Comey and others Trump targeted, although the percentage of that being coincidence is extremely low? Careful Jason. You are going to catch hell for again pointing out the fundamental hypocricies of the supposedly equal system. Tsk tsk tsk. You dreamer you.
Trump isn’t the only Republican threatening payback. Which is weird because as noted in the article it’s been standard practice for not just Presidents but Presidential candidates to release their taxes going back to Nixon! And also as noted virtually every other elected and appointed official has long done so. The bluster would be funny if this wasn’t so serious a matter. But that’s all it is, a lot of trash-talking. One of the things that make me HATE Trump and every fucking enabler of his asshole behavior is that with some things there shouldn’t have to be laws written and passed. Norms and customs have been under creeping assault by the GOP for a while, first in the House and then in the Senate under McConell on steroids. But the Trump Presidency took the violations/ignoring of norms and customs to a whole new level.
And STILL the fucking GOP won’t overtly slap Trump’s ass down! IOKIYAR (It’s okay if you’re a Republican) should be their motto. If he’s ever put in prison, not that anyone would get a chance to do so (he’d be in a special protective unit) but prisoners would tattoo that on his forehead so he’d have to see it in the mirror every day and suffer that in his case he pushed it too far.