“I’m in favor of the idea in terms of sending the message that [Trump] ought to release his tax returns,” former White House ethics chief Richard Painter said.
For over three years Donald Trump has refused to release his highly-coveted tax returns, citing reasons that include being audited or choosing to withhold them until Hillary Clinton releases her emails. But now nearly 20 states, sick of the excuses, have considered legislation to keep his name off the ballot until he does.
“I’m in favor of the idea in terms of sending the message that [Trump] ought to release his tax returns,” Richard Painter, the chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told Newsweek. “But there is a significant risk that they could lose to him in court on that.” “The constitutional argument that Trump’s people would make would be: ‘Well where do you draw the line?’” Painter said, adding that the president will absolutely challenge any state laws requiring the release of tax returns in order to appear on the ballot.
“We don’t think these laws, if put together appropriately and applying to everyone, would be illegal or unconstitutional,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Newsweek. Tax returns provide information about a candidate’s potential conflicts of interests, their income, charitable giving and other details that can be useful for people to have in evaluating how to cast their vote.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump says he spoke with Putin about 'Russian hoax,' didn't warn him against 2020 election meddling'President Trump today continues to belittle Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential election, as well as continued election interference,' says jaketapper discussing what he called a 'Russian hoax' in a one-hour call with Vladimir Putin.
Read more »
Scaramucci Says He’ll Back Trump in 2020 Despite Buttigieg TweetScaramucci tweeted that Buttigieg, who would be the first openly gay presidential nominee, “has already won for what he’s done for young LGBTQ people across America.” Buttigieg and his husband, Chase Buttigieg, are featured on this week’s cover of Time magazine. There has been some concern in the White
Read more »
A Facebook ‘army’ and freewheeling tweets: Inside the billion dollar Trump 2020 campaign machineIn conversations with Yahoo News senior figures working on Trump’s re-election campaign discussed their strategy, which includes leaning into controversies and pursuing unexpected targets such as Latino voters.
Read more »
Trump campaign manager promises 'bigger, better, badder' presidential race in 2020“I have a lot less faith in the system; you really don't understand how swampy it is until you get here,” Parscale said.
Read more »
Dems face defining 2020 question: Does defeating Trump outweigh all else?Joe Biden's entry into the race reignites arguments within the party over what kind of candidate can beat Trump.
Read more »
Trump Will Win in 2020, Money Managers Say in Exclusive PollBarron’s latest Big Money poll finds professional investors impressed with President Donald Trump’s performance. A majority expect him to win a second term.
Read more »
More Americans are likely to oppose Trump in the 2020 elections because of his handling of health care, poll saysMore Americans say they are likely to oppose rather than support President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections because of his handling of health care, according to a new ABC/Washington Post poll.
Read more »
Trump 2020 press secretary says economic data less important than how 'the average American feels'President Donald Trump's 2020 press secretary and a former Obama strategist squared off on Fox News over a Biden and Trump matchup.
Read more »