Democrats Push Harder to Get Trump’s Tax Information

With about two months left before the presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump still hasn’t made his tax returns available to the general public. And it doesn’t look like the billionaire is going to do it anytime soon or even before voters go to the booths on November 8.

Now an arm of the opposition is trying another way to reach the information being zealously guarded by Trump: A political action group has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the IRS. The “Democratic Coalition Against Trump,” a super Political Action Committee (PAC), wants to examine all correspondence between the business mogul and the nation’s tax collection agency. It made the formal request on August 15.

Trump has steadfastly refused to bow to pressure from other candidates to release his tax returns, which has become standard operating procedures for presidential and vice-presidential candidates in recent years. Both Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential challenger to Trump, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, have released their 2015 returns.

In fact, Clinton has released all her joint returns with former President Bill Clinton dating back almost 40 years. Mike Pence, the former Illinois governor and nominee for Vice President on the Republican ticket, is following Trump’s lead. But Pence has suggested he might break ranks with his boss and submit the returns for inspection prior to Election Day.

Trump has said that he is unable to release the returns because he is currently “under audit” from the IRS. However, the Democratic Coalition Against Trump believes its approach might work. Notably, it has cited similar circumstances where such a request has been approved and points to the “strong public interest” concerning Trump’s tax reporting.

“Trump has lied throughout this campaign, and we filed this request today to prove that he’s lying when he says he cannot release his tax returns,” said Democratic Coalition Against Trump Senior Advisor Scott Dworkin in a prepared statement. This would be unacceptable for any presidential candidate, but it’s especially bad for Donald Trump, because we already know that the truth means absolutely nothing to him. The IRS has a responsibility to the American people to expose whether Trump is committing fraud by claiming he is under audit among other things.”

It’s not clear if the IRS has the authority to honor the FOIA request. In addition, it might take months, or even years, for the government to respond. And, even it gets back to the political action group promptly, the response may be partially or wholly redacted.

This likely isn’t the last word on the on-going saga of Trump’s tax returns. We will remain alert for further developments.