Tax-Return Fight Tests Mnuchin's Loyalty To Trump
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faces a challenging test after Democrats formally requested President Trump's tax returns.
Mnuchin has been one of Trump's most loyal Cabinet members, defending the president's policies and personal conduct when others have shied away.
Now as the president's chief line of defense he will have to balance his loyalty to Trump against a request that many experts say leaves him little wiggle room.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) Wednesday evening sent IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig a request for six years' worth of Trump’s personal and business tax returns. Neal made the request under a part of Section 6103 of the federal tax code that states that the Treasury Secretary “shall furnish” tax returns to the chairmen of Congress’s tax committees upon written request, so long as the documents are viewed in a closed session.
Key Republicans are critical of the request. The top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), argued in a letter to Mnuchin Wednesday that the request is “an abuse of the tax-writing committees’ statutory authority,” and he said it weakens Americans’ right to have their personal information kept private.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday that courts have ruled that congressional requests for information need to have legitimate legislative purposes, and Democrats have fallen short on that front.
Mnuchin has been a fierce Trump loyalist and advocate for his agenda, supporting the president’s positions and controversial comments even when they differ from his own views.
Republican strategists predict that Mnuchin will get involved and that it will be an easy decision for him to reject Democrats’ request.
"You’ve never seen a Cabinet secretary at that level not fight for the administration,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. He predicted that Mnuchin is likely to let the issue end up in the courts.
The pressure from conservatives to defend Trump will likely be intense.
Romney Campaign Unable To Shake Democratic Attacks On Tax Records
Republicans are pushing back strongly against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) claims that Mitt Romney had failed to pay taxes for multiple years, but the controversy and Democratic pressure on the GOP candidate to release more of his tax records shows little sign of dying down.
One GOP strategist also warns that hitting back at Reid fails to damage Romney’s real opponent in the run up to the November election: President Obama.
“They're trying to fight back at Reid so it backfires on Obama. What makes Reid such a dangerous weapon is he doesn't care,” GOP strategist Ford O’Connell told The Hill. “Reid is putting Romney in a tough situation. When you're slapping back at Harry Reid it keeps the issue in the public eye. They're going to have to make a determination of how much longer they want to keep sticking to their guns.”
O’Connell, though, suggests a cautious approach for the Romney camp.
“There may come a time when they do need to release those tax returns but they need to play this one out first,” he advised.
Romney has personally responded to Reid’s attacks, calling on the Senate majority leader to “put up or shut up” earlier in the week, and a number of people on both sides of the aisle have criticized Reid for his unverified accusations.
But the Nevada senator has also gleefully refused to back down, and shown he’s willing to take the heat in order to keep Romney’s taxes in the news.
Mitt Romney Should Stick To His Guns On His Tax Returns
We campaign gurus all agree: It's about forcing the other campaign to "educate the voter."
That's why President Barack Obama's re-election campaign continues to call for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns—to shift the burden of "educating the voter" to the Romney camp.
So far, Romney has resisted the calls from the Obama campaign, its amen chorus in the media, and even a growing number of Republicans and conservatives that he "come clean" and release more of his returns. Here's hoping he sticks to his guns.
There is no reason for Romney to supply the president's campaign with more fodder for oppo research. More, as Romney says, for the president's men "to pick through, distort, and lie about." Romney gave John McCain 23 years of returns when he was being vetted as a potential running mate in 2008, and McCain, who doesn't mind sticking it to fellow Republicans when he deems it necessary, says there is nothing untoward in them.
The time may come when Romney has to change course. The president has the media on his side, and if the issue begins to change votes in Virginia or Ohio, Romney may have to rethink.
But for now, every time he is asked about his tax returns, he should respond: "Why ask me about something that has nothing to do with how I will perform as president when you could be asking the current president what on Earth he's done to deserve four more years?"
