Business

Dem asks GOP chairman to request Trump’s tax returns from Treasury

by Naomi Jagoda - 02/01/17 5:48 PM ET

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) is urging House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to request copies of President Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department.

“I believe the powerful Ways and Means Committee has the responsibility to use that power to ensure proper oversight of the executive branch by requesting a review of President Trump’s tax returns and moving towards a formal release of these documents to the public,” Pascrell, a member of the tax-writing panel, said in a letter to Brady Wednesday.

During the campaign, Trump became the first major-party presidential candidate in decades to refuse to release his tax returns. Pascrell said it’s important for Trump’s tax returns to be disclosed in order to learn about any potential conflicts of interest.

{mosads}”President Trump is now governing while also owning a business with international investments,” he said. “The Constitution faces unprecedented threats due to this arrangement.”

Under federal tax law, the Ways and Means Committee chairman can request tax returns from Treasury that committee members can review in a closed session and then consider if they should be released to the public.

In such a session, the committee could vote to submit Trump’s tax returns to the House, which would make them available to the public if successful, the New Jersey lawmaker said.

“This Committee followed a similar procedure to release confidential taxpayer information in the past during its exhaustive investigation of the treatment of certain tax-exempt organizations,” Pascrell said.

Tags Kevin Brady