Three-quarters of Americans say that Donald Trump should release his tax returns. Over a million people signed a White House petition demanding the immediate release of of his returns. Even Donald Trump himself once said “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns. Absolutely. I would love to do that.” But then, after he was elected, Trump changed his tune and said that only the media cared about his tax returns. Yes, he lied again, and about something that was easily disproved.
And there are plenty of reasons that Americans want to see his tax returns. Trump has many conflicts of interests between being president and the money he gets from his business interests. And almost everything he has done since becoming president has enriched him (tax cuts for the rich), or at the very least has exemptions that benefit himself (exempting countries where he has business interests from his Muslim ban).
There are also all the Russian connections. His son said in public that the Russians are big investors in Trump businesses, yet Trump has claimed that he has no connections to the Russians. Which is it? His tax returns would answer that question.
So it should come as no surprise that recently, all but two Republicans in the House voted to keep Trump’s tax returns secret. Those two Republicans? They did not vote for Trump to release his returns — they voted “present”.
By law, the House has the right to examine the president’s tax returns, if it is in the public interest. But 229 Republicans voted against transparency, and for corruption. 185 Democrats voted to release the tax returns.
