All the experts on cable tv news were certain that Mueller had Trump's tax returns.

[kentuck]

They said that would have been one of the first things he would have done.

But, if he did, where are they?

Are we to assume that Mueller did not get Trump's tax returns?

[EarnestPutz]

1. If he had the returns, would they be part of his report?

I assume that a 400 page report does not contain all of the evidence they gathered (that would be a truckload), but are his returns mentioned in the report?

[gldstwmn]

2. Would they be one of the exhibits in the report?

[marylandblue]

3. We can't assume he did or did not get them. But he did gather tons of evidence.

If he did, they may not have been relevant to his investigation. Even if they were, he probably didn't attach them and it's quite possible they don't even get a mention.

[Eyeball_Kid]

4. There's a near certainty that Trump's tax returns were acquired by...

Comey. It was Comey who began the investigations. Mueller picked up where Comey left off. And, as we have heard often, it's always about the money, and the first piece of evidence that nearly all prosecutors go for is the tax returns. It's "Investigations 101".

[Cary]

5. No one knows. Assume nothing.

Everything must be disclosed.

[bluestarone]

6. Turned over to the State of NY?

And OTHER states that could use them? Who knows.

[rickford66]

7. NY State would have access to his returns.

Cohen may have had copies.

[kentuck]

8. Is it possible the Congress already has his returns?

Hard to believe they would not, if everyone above got hold of them?

[Kaleva]

9. The so called experts were just guessing. Even Chuck Rosenberg.

"Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, posted a 23-tweet thread on Twitter explaining why he thinks Mueller has obtained some tax returns and will likely be getting his hands on Trump’s soon."

https://bipartisanreport.com/2017/09/19/breaking-trumps-tax-returns-delivered-to-mueller-ready-to-leak-report/

"Chuck Rosenberg said on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, “No question in my mind from day one, Nicolle. The first thing white-collar prosecutors do — Dan knows this, and I was one — is you get tax returns and you get credit reports and the reason you get those two things — and they’re not hard to get, you get tax returns with an order from a federal judge, you get credit reports with a grand jury subpoena, is because those are the documents that give you leads. They tell you where the money is coming from and going and they tell you who to talk to to get more leads. So does Mueller have Trump’s tax you bet.”"

https://www.politicususa.com/2018/12/13/mueller-has-had-trumps-tax-returns-from-day-one.html

"Robert Mueller may be closing in on Donald Trump's undisclosed tax returns, George W. Bush's former ethics attorney Richard Painter says."

https://www.newsweek.com/robert-mueller-information-donald-trump-unreleased-tax-returns-1090814

"The move indicates that Mueller is continuing to take a follow-the-money approach to the investigation in an attempt to determine whether Trump or anyone in his orbit was compromised by Russian or Russian-linked entities during the election. It is also an indication that he's spotted something in someone's tax returns — which federal investigators typically obtain early on in their probes — that he believes is worth pursuing. "

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-fbi-doj-tax-returns-2017-9

[Hortensis]

10. :). It's in chapter 3 of Federal Investigations

For Dummies. Under “Obtaining tax returns: ...”

Chapter 1 defines what federal investigations are.

Chapter 2 covers putting together the investigation team, including when forensic accountants will be required. Which will be very often at minimum.