Democrats Outsmarted Trump And Made It Impossible For Him To Hide His Tax Returns

[babylonsister]

https://www.politicususa.com/2019/04/03/democrats-outsmarted-trump-and-made-it-impossible-for-him-to-hide-his-tax-returns.html

Democrats Outsmarted Trump And Made It Impossible For Him To Hide His Tax Returns
Posted on Wed, Apr 3rd, 2019 by Jason Easley


Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) explained that the Trump administration would have no say over blocking the release of the president’s tax returns because Democrats addressed the letter to the IRS, not the Treasury Department.

Rep. Kildee said on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, “It’s not up to the Treasury Secretary. It’s up to the commissioner of the IRS. That’s who the letter was addressed to. When Secretary Mnuchin was before the committee, he said the same thing. The commissioner of the IRS will follow the law. That’s our expectation that he will follow the law of the United States and deliver the returns that had been requested.”

Link to tweet

By not blanket requesting all of Trump’s tax returns, but only seeking returns for the years when Trump claims that he is being audited, Democrats used Trump’s own excuse for not turning over the returns against him.

Democrats are investigating, not Donald Trump, but whether or not tax law is being appropriately applied to the President Of The United States.

It is a clever strategy that is based on public policy but has the practical impact of getting Trump’s tax returns into the hands of members of Congress for examination.

The White House is in way over its head in dealing with this Democratic House. The Democrats are running circles around the president and turning his entire presidency into a waking oversight nightmare.

[spooky3]

1. Rachel Maddow just walked us through Neal's (D)

Authority to request the returns (he doesn’t need a subpoena because of a specific section of IRS law authorizing the Ways and Means chair to get returns of any American) and how carefully worded the request letter was, such that the IRS may not have any grounds for refusing to provide them. She was masterful.

[MichMan]

4. Next go after Hannity, Limbaugh, Wayne LaPierre and the Kochs returns

[hughee99]

5. Exactly. We should use the IRS to go after political opponents because we can!

How could that possibly backfire? Because what we're saying here, essentially, is that the IRS under Obama was ignoring the law.

[MichMan]

10. It isn't the IRS going after anybody.

If indeed the law allows any American's tax returns to be provided upon request by the House Ways & Means, then no one should be off limits

[hughee99]

17. The law allows returns to be provided upon request.

If you think using that power to dig through the tax records of political opponents just to see what’s in there is a good idea, I think you and I have a fundamental disagreement on how government should work.

This is the sort of thing everyone here would call an abouse of power if the republicans were doing it.

[MichMan]

18. Heard a lot of rumors here regarding the Russians and the NRA & RW media

How else would one discover if they are financing political action against others?

From my understanding the law allowing tax returns to be released is very old and broadly written. I assume that was done intentionally. It isn't anything new and perhaps should be used more often than it has been

[hughee99]

22. And your assumption is that Trumps tax records, which

The IRS has had for years, will prove illegal activity and they have been ignoring it? And that Trumps tax returns will contain proof that the Russians and the NRA are financing political action against others?

[Kingofalldems]

19. ......

Link to tweet

[RandiFan1290]

11. Getting worried?

[Kingofalldems]

12. Boom!

[RandiFan1290]

13. :)

[MichMan]

16. If they want to go after mine, not much I could do about it

Since I have wages from my employer and only take the standard deduction, they can look all they want at it I guess. Might make my pretense of a millionaire lifestyle fall apart like a house of cards I suppose.

[BigmanPigman]

2. The Dems have spent two years planning the best strategies

since they knew what BS games they would be up against.

[spooky3]

3. Section 6103 (f) of the Tax Code. Go Chairman Neal!

Last edited Wed Apr 3, 2019, 11:40 PM - Edit history (1)

Here it is:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103

And it DOES appear “crystal clear” as Congresswoman Chu just said — the IRS “shall provide” etc.

[onetexan]

6. "shall provide" sounds like an order and not a request

sneaky!

[spooky3]

8. yes, and according to LOD, when "shall" is in the law, that means "no wiggle room." nt

[fierywoman]

7. Ha-ha, let's Al Capone all of them!

[phylny]

20. Yes, I mentioned this a few days ago:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211973800

[fierywoman]

40. I missed this -- thanks for the link. Makes me happier to read than many dozens of things I've

read lately.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

9. This should serve as a fair, non-partisan warning to ALL politicians,.......

Republican or Democrat, that if you want to run for public office and be a public servant, you better have a clean record with the IRS.

...........

[MichMan]

15. The House Ways & Means can request on any American, not just public officeholders

[greymattermom]

27. Including Bernie, right?

He is also hiding something.

[malaise]

32. Correct

No pass for either man

[Vinca]

14. I guess Don's hopes and dreams are pinned on how much he's derided the person currently

in charge of the IRS and how much that person values his reputation. In the end, the law is the law and Dems will get the returns. The fight in between could take days or months depending on the cult membership of the current acting commissioner.

[Arazi]

21. The IRS commissioner is a Trump sycophant. He's not going to comply

This will still go to court and take time

[kentuck]

23. Trump doesn't want to show his tax returns...

..and he doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do, unless he is absolutely forced to do so. That's the way he rolls.

[ScratchCat]

24. For what its worth

"Shall issue" is a legal threshold which means there is nobody with "discretion" to deny the request. This is the typical language in State statutes regarding licenses and the like. It means that if the applicant meets the stated criteria, the State "shall issue" the license and there is no other "screening" so to speak or someone who could make a "administrative" decision to deny you the license.

[kentuck]

25. That assumes respect for the rule of law.

They have none.

[hughee99]

28. Exactly. They could bring the people from the IRS before congress,

But what do we do if they take the 5th?

[oasis]

29. Don't need to waste time with that nonsense. Federal marshals will

recieve court authorization to seize the necessary documents.

[malaise]

33. Correct is right

[hughee99]

35. Will they? I seem to recall a history of congress

Requesting but not getting docs from federal agencies and don’t remember federal Marshalls descending on those agencies very often.

[oasis]

37. The IRS is required to follow the law. There is no gray area on this issue.

[hughee99]

39. Yes, they are, and had a high ranking IRS official not taken the 5th

In my recent memory, I’d make the assumption they would follow the law here.

[Firestorm49]

31. And that, my friend, is the rub.

[dameatball]

26. Correct. That is also the standard for state laws and contracts.

[Firestorm49]

30. I'll happily believe it once I see the tax returns their hands.

[NCjack]

34. Trump Administration has no regard for law. When they break the

law, the Senate ignores it. Celebration should wait for the victory over Evil-#45 .

[shanny]

36. I believe SDNY or NY AG has already or will subpoena

the tax returns from the accounting firm as they continue to investigate tax irregularities concerning Trump Foundation etc. AOC and others helped point the way with the public questioning of Cohen: did Trump inflate his worth for loan purposes? Did he deflate in for tax purposes?

[MagickMuffin]

38. Trumpery is STILL claiming they are under audit

Just how many years can the IRS keep tax returns under audit???