President Trump refuses to make his federal tax returns public, as all other presidents have done, for decades.
But his state tax returns may soon be in the hands of House Democrats.
On Wednesday, the New York State Senate passed legislation that would permit Trump’s returns to be handed over to Congressional committees.
“The bill must still be approved by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY),” says the Washington Post, “but Cuomo has expressed support for the measure and Democrats have a majority in the legislature’s lower chamber.”
Before the state Senate vote, the New York Times reported it had obtained IRS information on Trump’s taxes from 1985 to 1994, saying “they paint a far bleaker picture of his financial condition than was previously known,” including losses totaling $1.17 billion “during a tumultuous decade of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse.”
“House Democrats have sought more recent records, from 2013 to 2018,” says the Post. “On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin officially denied House lawmakers’ request for Trump’s tax returns.”
But the state returns would probably be enough to reveal the facts of Trump’s current financial status.
“The New York state tax returns likely contain information that is similar to what is in the federal returns,” Harry Sandick, former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, told the Post, which notes that Trump’s “business losses and income likely would be similar at the federal and state levels.”