Since the administration
of Richard Milhous ‘Tricky Dick’ Nixon, U.S. presidents have publicly released
their tax returns; a way to reassure the public that they have no financial
entanglements that would interfere with their duty to the nation. Every
president, that is, except Donald J. Trump.
During the campaign,
then-candidate Trump refused to release his returns, claiming that he couldn’t
because they were being audited by the IRS—this, despite the IRS stating
publicly that an individual had the authority to release his returns even during
an audit. There were, if I remember correctly, vague promises that he would
release the returns if elected.
Well, we’re over a year
and a half into the Trump Administration, and President ‘Dishonest Donald’ Trump
still has not released his returns, breaking a 40-year precedent that has been
honored since the days of Jimmy Carter.
Why, one has to ask, is
he so jealously guarding documents that every senior government official in a
position of responsibility is required to provide, and presidents before him
have willingly provided? Questions that arose after his sniveling, submissive
performance in Helsinki when he shared the podium with his bromance, Vladimir
Putin, make these documents even more important, and makes me wonder why the
secrecy.
I don’t want to start
another conspiracy, so I’ll say up front, I don’t know, and we may never know,
but I would like to offer some possibilities for his reluctance to let us see
his tax returns.
1. They show that he’s not nearly as rich as he
claims he is, and we all know how sensitive he is on that subject.
2. They show income from questionable sources such
as the Russian mob, or even domestic underworld sources. His flirtation with
organized crime figures has been well documented, as has his relationship with
Roy Cohn of McCarthy Red Scare fame, who himself had underworld connections.
3. They show expenses, especially if he used a
credit card or third-party payer, that prove conclusively that he’s lied about
some of his extramarital liaisons or that he actually did hire . . . ladies of
ill repute to stage the salacious Moscow hotel event.
4. They show investments or debts from Russia that
indicates he’s in hock to them up to his eyebrows.
5. They show money flowing in from unusual sources
that can eventually be traced back to Russian intelligence or Putin himself.
I’m not ranking these
scenarios, and I’m sure there are other possibilities, but if I had to rank
them, items 1,2, and 3 would head my list, simply because they are so typical
of the man. Item 4 is not beyond the realm of possibility, while number 5,
though unlikely, also can’t be entirely dismissed.
All of this speculation
and the constant questions and doubts could be laid to rest if the man would
just man up and release his returns. An alternative would be the House Ways and
Means Committee Chairman requests the returns from the IRS as he’s authorized
to do and let them be reviewed by members of both parties on his committee. At
least some of our elected representatives would know what’s what. Not the ideal
solution, but better than nothing. But, Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from the
8th District of Texas, ain’t about to do that. Like many of his GOP
colleagues, he will continue to support and enable Trump until they go over the
cliff.
So, it’s likely we’ll
never know. But, it’s such a minor thing. If you’re honest and have nothing to
hide, what’s wrong, when you’re the top dog in the kennel, with letting people
see what everyone of your predecessors has let them see?
I’d like to see a
reporter at one of Sarah Sanders’ press conferences bring this up, just to see
how she punts it.
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