The Supreme Court may or may not require Trump to release his tax returns to investigators, and even if they do, we may not know for a long time what's involved (since Trump v. Vance is related to a Grand Jury investigation and those proceedings are secret). But what do you think is in them?
I've always thought it was either evidence of tax fraud, or facts showing that he isn't as rich as he says he is.
Just out of curiosity, what's the legal rationale behind asking / forcing an elected official to submit their tax returns? I haven't formed an opinion on it yet since I don't know what it's being asked for.
The basic idea is that the electorate should know who or what an elected is beholden to. If someone is heavily invested in Company X or deep in debt to Country Y then those connections could influence policy decisions.
Even elected officials at the local level have to submit a financial report showing assets and how much money they make and from whom. Sometimes candidates um...fudge.. those numbers and tax returns help clear that up.
Not discounting fraud or anything else, but it seems most of his decisions are ego-driven, so I’m going with “not as rich as he wants people to think”.
I don't know if there would be actual evidence of actual fraud, but I'm sure he's afraid of people finding . . . irregularities.
It's pretty clear to me for a long time that he's involved in Russian money laundering schemes. A good deal of the real estate market in London and New York City are in some way, but Trump was especially desperate as he's continually broke. These things usually go through Cyprus or the UK, which is one of the reasons why the Russians have propped up the Conservatives and Brexit in general.
I'm thinking all of the above. A little of each, but nothing individually large enough to be a bombshell. Hence, defiance for its own sake plays a role.
