Presidential and Vice-Presidential Tax Returns

As the Committee and Subcommittee know, Chairman Neal can request the tax return of anyone, including President Trump. Usually, this is unnecessary because it has become the custom. President Nixon did so in a publicity stunt to show he was “not a crook.” I am certain that, because Citizen Trump is likely the target of more than one investigation, that Special Counsel Mueller has already obtained his returns.

In this instance, I advise Mr. Neal to withhold on seeking Citizen Trump’s returns until doing so will support the likely work of the Judiciary Committee in investigating the possibility of impeachment. They should not be released for public consumption or until they are material to an impeachment vote or Senate trial and not for public curiosity. The desire for some to do so has amounted to grandstanding that should not be dignified by the Committee.

For the purposes of this hearing, allow me to paraphrase the judicial axiom, hard cases make bad law. I would urge that we take great care in requiring what has been customary. While it might have given Candidate Trump pause before entering the race, hindsight is 20/20. Given his conduct in office, it is likely he would have filed suit and pursued election anyway. Given what we know of his business dealings, he seems oblivious to the past or to the authority of law.

Requiring the release of returns for a candidate for federal office skirts dangerously close to adding to the constitutional requirement for serving. The Court in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (citation omitted) found that extending such limits was unconstitutional. Mr. Trump may have actually had a case.

There is also the slippery slope argument. (While it is a logical fallacy to make such arguments, in this case, it applies). While Presidents and their Administrations have, from time to time, engaged in criminal behavior, the sad fact is that members of Congress are not immune from such conduct. If subject legislation is passed, or likely before, many will call for the release of the returns of sitting members of Congress and their opponents.

It need not stop there. Currently, there are IRS Statistics on Income Publication SOI Tax Stats – County Data is incomplete for the highest income levels because their release would be traceable to individual filers. As a tax scholar who proposed a high income and inheritance surtax, I would find free access to data at all income ranges quite useful to my analysis. Indeed, expanding publication to this area has actual public policy benefits apart from criminal investigations.

The question then remains, why stop now? If one citizen can be forced to release their personal tax information to the public, all citizens could one day be subject to such disclosure. Indeed, it would come up with every background check for applicants and employees. This information would be valuable to employers to make sure no outside income exists beyond the usual ethics disclosures.

The standard objection to privacy concerns is that no one should refuse disclosure if they have nothing to hide. That is the justification for any witch hunt (sadly, in this case Citizen Trump is correct in his characterization, at least regarding this matter).

I trust that you can divine my feelings about this matter.