The president is not above the law

"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook." President Richard Nixon famously said this line during the Watergate scandal in 1973, and Americans deserve to know what President Donald Trump is trying to hide by continually refusing to release his tax returns.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal deserves credit for formally requesting six years of Trump's personal and certain business tax returns. The IRS must immediately comply with federal law to provide the committee with the requested documents so all Americans can see Trump's conflicts of interest.

Talker: McConnell is trying to leave a lifetime conservative legacy through judicial appointments

Ask your friends and family to sign-up for the Today's Talker newsletter

Beginning with Nixon, all major Republican and Democratic presidential candidates disclosed at least portions of their tax returns until then-candidate Donald Trump refused to during the 2016 campaign. Presidential candidates releasing their tax returns is a commonsense transparency standard so that Americans can judge for themselves any financial conflicts of interest a president might have — of which Trump has many.

Disclosure of the president's tax returns is about much more than just Trump, though. It's about transparency and letting Americans decide whether the president is making decisions that benefit his businesses at the expense of American taxpayers. If Trump has significant debt to banks and/or individuals in certain countries, some of which might be adversaries of the United States, we must know because his foreign policy decisions might be compromised.

Trump finances

Unfortunately, it may take continued public pressure, litigation and legislation to ensure that Congress and all Americans can fully see the myriad conflicts of interest that Trump is trying to hide by not releasing his tax returns.

The For the People Act, the boldest anti-corruption democracy reform package in Congress since the Watergate era and which passed in the House of Representatives last month, would require major party presidential candidates to disclose their taxes. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has continually refused to allow debate or a vote on the bill.

The previous Republican-controlled Congress refused to do its job and put on blinders by refusing to ask difficult questions of the Trump administration's conflicts of interest. This Congress must fulfill its constitutionally required oversight responsibilities, and the Democratic-controlled House must follow through on its request to obtain Trump's taxes because no American, and especially not the president, is above the law.

What others are saying

Timothy L. O'Brien,  Bloomberg: "Donald Trump unsuccessfully sued me in 2006 for libel over a biography I wrote called 'TrumpNation,' citing unflattering sections of the book that examined his business record and wealth. He lost the suit in 2011, and during the litigation he was forced to turn over his tax returns to my lawyers. ... House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal has only requested six years of Trump’s returns, which is, I think, regrettable. Some of the transactions that may interest investigators the most took place around 15 years ago, when Trump, suddenly flush with cash, went on a shopping spree."

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.,  CNN: "I would like to (see Trump's tax returns). But I think he has, at least if you take the president at his word, a legitimate reason for not turning them over. He says he's in the middle of an audit. ... I take him at his word, and I respect that. I think all things being equal, I would like to see presidents' taxes. I wouldn't be adverse to turning over my taxes; I don't have anything to hide. ... I think it's probably within (Neal's) purview. I think he has an ulterior motive. I think the chair hates President  Trump. ... I just don't think he can be objective."

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.,  CNN: "We have a very specific question we are trying to get at, a policy question, and that is whether the IRS is auditing and enforcing the tax laws of the United States on the president of the United States. We don’t know, for example, whether or not the president’s returns are actually under audit. ... In order for us to determine whether there should be changes in law to strengthen that, we have to have a look at the returns and the associated documents. The only way we can get that, the only way we can determine that is to have the chairman have access to those individual returns and the eight business entities that we think constitute a full view."

What our readers are saying

We should have a new law to require that all presidential candidates make important documents (i.e. tax, finance, assets, diplomas, etc.) public, before running for office.