WSJ: Democrats Lack Legitimate Legislative Purpose in Release of Confidential Tax Returns
“Democrats have spent years justifying any action to get Mr. Trump, and releasing his tax returns is another wrecking ball to standards and norms,” writes the Wall Street Journal editorial board in a new editorial outlining the weak pretext under which Democrats released confidential taxpayer information. “Democrats could come to regret it—and sooner than they think.”
READ: Fact Check: Democrats’ Release of Confidential Tax Returns Was Unprecedented and Unnecessary
Democrats’ actions are unprecedented and violate the historic norms to violate taxpayer privacy – and are misleading the public about their true intentions.
- “President Trump’s Democratic critics have broken another political norm, and it’s a big one.”
- “The fine print of Mr. Neal’s report acknowledges that five of Mr. Trump’s six individual returns since 2015 were selected for regular IRS examination. So were five of the six returns for his firm, DJT Holdings.”
- “By the way, the IRS Commissioner during Mr. Trump’s first year in office was John Koskinen, a holdover appointee of President Obama. The one ‘mandatory’ audit selection took place under Mr. Trump’s nominee, Commissioner Charles Rettig.”
READ: Brady Statement on News Reports of Democrats’ Rush to Release Confidential Tax Information
Democrats are wielding a new political weapon by releasing confidential tax information despite claiming it was done for a legitimate legislative purpose.
- “…[A]fter cycling through unconvincing arguments to take a peek, Democrats landed on the obscure IRS presidential audit program.”
- “Even if Democrats are correct that the audit program needs change, that’s no reason to expose Mr. Trump’s confidential taxpayer information. The report already lays out Democrats’ evidence and recommendations.”
- Under this new Democrat-created rule, “the incoming GOP House could claim a ‘legislative’ need to release the tax returns of Hunter Biden, groups like Planned Parenthood, or progressive ‘dark money’ donors.”
READ: Democrat Bill’s Only Purpose: Provide Cover for the Political Targeting of a Private Citizen