Bauer writes: "When Richard Nixon declared, 'People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook,' we often forget that he wasn't talking about Watergate. He was speaking about compliance with tax law."
The public's interest in access to this or any president's tax filings depends on strong reform legislation from Congress. (photo: unknown)
10 July 20
The public’s interest in access to this or any president’s tax filings depends on strong reform legislation from Congress.
hen Richard Nixon declared, “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook,” we often forget that he wasn’t talking about Watergate. He was speaking about compliance with tax law. The public had a “right to know,” in this case, what was in his returns and if he had followed the law.
The Supreme Court’s decisions on Thursday in the Trump tax cases vindicated important principles about presidential accountability under the rule of law. A 7-to-2 majority rejected the president’s claim of immunity from compliance with a state criminal subpoena, and the court also turned down his argument that state prosecutors and Congress should have to meet demanding standards to obtain a president’s personal financial information.
But these cases left very much in doubt when the president will have to provide his tax returns, and it is clear that the public will not see them any time soon, if ever.