Democrats will ‘never’ get a hold of Trump’s tax returns, White House says

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The White House acting chief of staff has said Democratic lawmakers probing Donald Trump’s financial dealings will “never” get a hold of the president’s tax returns.

Mick Mulvaney lambasted the congressional investigations during a Fox News Sunday interview, suggesting efforts by the House Oversight Committee to request the president’s tax documents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were nothing short of a “political hit job.”

Democrats “knew they were not going to get these taxes, they know what the law is, they know that one of the fundamental principles of the IRS is to protect the confidentiality of you and me and everybody else who files taxes, they know that,” Mr Mulvaney said on Sunday. “They know the terms under law by which the IRS can give them the documents but political hit job is not one of those reasons.”

“To be clear, you believe Democrats will never see the president’s tax returns?” the host asked him.

“Never,” Mr Mulvaney replied. “Nor should they. Keep in mind, that’s already an issue that was already litigated during the 2016 election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns, they knew that he didn’t and they elected him anyway.”

Mr Trump repeatedly declined to make his tax returns public throughout the 2016 election, despite virtually every other major candidate releasing years of their own returns.

The president at the time told voters and media outlets he was unable to present his tax returns due to an ongoing IRS audit.

The IRS has said audits do not stop the agency or an individual from being able to provide tax returns, however.

The president shot down questions about releasing his tax returns earlier this week, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “they’ll speak to my lawyers.”

“They’ll speak to the attorney general,” he added, repeating, “They’ll speak to my lawyers and speak to the attorney general.”

Lawmakers on the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee have requested up to six years of the president’s personal tax returns and several of his businesses no later than 10 April.

When asked by reporters on Wednesday if he’d ever release his tax returns on his own, the president told media, “Until such time as I am not under audit, I will not be doing that, thank you.”