Rep. Doggett Offers Amendment to Secure Trump Tax Returns, Meet the Nixon Standard
***Press Release***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 13, 2018 | Contact: Kate Stotesbery 202-225-4865 |
Rep. Doggett Offers Amendment to Secure Trump Tax Returns, Meet the Nixon Standard
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Tax Policy Subcommittee of Ways & Means, offered an amendment to release President Trump's tax returns as the Ways & Means markup continued on the second round of unpaid for Republican tax breaks for the wealthy. Watch his full remarks here. Excerpts, as prepared, below:
"The stench of corruption permeates this Administration, and it comes right from the top. This amendment is designed to end the Republican coverup of Trump's tax returns. While this amendment seeks to achieve the same result that I have sought with 5 prior attempts in this committee, it includes extensive new findings from some of the notable developments of recent months that make clear we are not only dealing with the self-described ‘King of Debt,' but someone who continues to act as if he were just King.
Trump's tax returns relate directly to what is before us today. There is no issue this Committee could consider more important than the integrity of our tax code, and the faith that the American people have in our democracy. Trump has surrounded himself with convicted tax evaders – rich friends who have decided they are above the law, and that working people who can't afford fancy tax lawyers should have to pick up the slack. Even Richard Nixon invited the Joint Committee on Taxation to review his tax returns, explaining that ‘people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.'
While this Committee has refused to do its job—while in this Congress instead of oversight, we have been overlooking Administration misconduct—the President's tax returns have in fact already been reviewed. That was a review that, amazingly, President Trump presented as his ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval ‘to assure America he had no business dealings with the Russians.' It was a review of his tax returns by his personal law firm, which, of course, gave him a clean bill of health on any Russian connection—only months after it boasted of the ‘prestigious honor' of being named ‘Russia Law Firm' of the year. I am only asking that this Committee do for the American people what the ‘Russia Law Firm of the Year' has done for Mr. Trump.
Before this Committee considers a dime of more tax breaks, we must obtain and review the President's tax returns. Any tax bill released should be accompanied by a line-by-line report of how much Trump, his family, and his companies will benefit from each one.
His tax returns can help tell us whether he is putting America First, or Trump first, his family second, and Russian third."
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