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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. Senate Democrats make Trump tax returns a national security issue
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-returns-idUSKBN16E2AP?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29U.S. Senate Democrats make Trump tax returns a national security issue
By David Morgan | WASHINGTON
U.S. Senate Democrats, seeking to capitalize on growing revelations about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia, urged a top Republican lawmaker on Tuesday to obtain President Donald Trump's tax returns as a matter of national security.
It was the second request for Trump's returns by Senate Democrats in as many weeks, part of a Democratic campaign to pressure Republicans in Congress into obtaining the documents that could reveal conflicts of interest posed by the president's global business empire.
Trump has defied decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns, saying his tax affairs were under federal audit. The Internal Revenue Service has said that is no obstacle to releasing them publicly.
Republican leaders, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, rejected a March 1 request by Senate Democrats, saying congressional actions that target individual tax returns would constitute an abuse of authority and set a dangerous precedent.
But in a letter dated March 7 to Hatch, two leading Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee said Trump's tax returns should be pursued in light of "critical national security implications" posed by contacts between Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trump associates, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
"There is no debate that the conflicts in question pose a threat to American national security and the integrity of the government of the United States, and more and more keep coming to light," wrote Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the committee's top Democrat, and Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
Hatch's office had no immediate comment on Tuesday's letter.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-returns-idUSKBN16E2AP?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29
sheshe2
(83,908 posts)BSdetect
(8,999 posts)MelissaB
(16,420 posts)K&R
Peacetrain
(22,878 posts)Amaryllis
(9,525 posts)recess and he pounded on getting the tax returns released being key to getting to the bottom of Russiagate.
MedusaX
(1,129 posts)It is natural to want to get to the bottom of the Russian Trump Election alliance....
But it is questionable as to what ... if any... action would be taken as a result ....
Even if he and Vlad filed a joint tax return (sorry Melania , Vlad wins(?))
There is no guarantee that ANY action... much less removal from office would take place.
However......
there exists the very real possibility that the Russian Trump Election Alliance is just one of several acts ...
in a pattern / sequence / web of ongoing acts involving a group/groups of players...
The "evidence" of the Russian Trump Election Alliance may be of greater value to the larger investigation/case than it is in and of itself.
With a larger "criminal" case involving multiple acts & players... you take them all down at the same time... and there is a much greater chance that those charges would force a removal from office.
IMHO.... The RICO option has the best odds for getting him & Bannon out of the WH....
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)NewRedDawn
(790 posts)return is not audited. Can't be if not filed yet.Lets see that one now!
War Pigs
(252 posts)My useless gerrymadered teabagger Renacci. Show us his 2016 taxes next month, they Can't possibly be under audit !!! Crickets
Mc Mike
(9,115 posts)Keep hammering the pig.
Wounded Bear
(58,713 posts)Cha
(297,673 posts)War Pigs
(252 posts)The stamp already on them. I plan on sending fifty or so they are only $0.28 each stock up !!!