by Nick Givas
Sen. Chuck Grassley explained why he wasn’t interested in seeing President Donald Trump’s personal tax returns, on “Fox & Friends” Monday.
“Listen, you’re asking me as chairman of the Finance Committee, we would have an opportunity to see [Trump’s tax returns] too. I don’t want to see them,” he said.
“I am not going to request them and you’re asking me in regard to Trump. I want to tell you that I look at this not from the point of view of Trump, but what is legitimate for Congress to do looking at people’s tax returns,” the Iowa Republican continued. “It’s not to know who the tax returns are. It’s supposed to serve a legislative purpose.”
Grassely also said there should be an expectation of privacy with regard to personal tax information and expressed concerns about weaponizing the IRS to neutralize political enemies.
“In fact the privacy of your tax returns are guaranteed by Section 6103,” he continued.
“We want to make sure that what [former President Lyndon B. Johnson] did, what [former President Richard] Nixon did or what [former President Barack] Obama did — going after conservative organizations, that the IRS is not used for political purposes. But if you need to write legislation, then maybe you need some information from people that are avoiding taxes or using tax loopholes or maybe not finding a way to get out and you want to change the laws,” the senator said. “That’s the only reason you should be asking for tax returns.”
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Nick Givas is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. You can Follow Nick on Twitter.
