Thread by @usacsmret

Dems' Tax Hypocrisy cfif.org/v/index.php/co… via @CFIFonline

House Democrats are demanding the Internal Revenue Service hand over President Donald Trump's tax returns. Not that Speaker Nancy Pelosi or other Dems making the demand are willing to disclose their tax filings. Fat chance. Not in the House of Hypocrites.

No law requires officeholders or candidates to reveal their tax filings, and the IRS is legally obligated to protect that privacy. There's an exception. Congress's tax-writing committees can inspect any individual filer's return

But only for the right reason. The Supreme Court has ruled legislators can demand information only when they are pursuing "a legitimate task of the Congress." A political hit job against the president doesn't qualify.

Weaponizing the IRS has an ignominious history, including the 1950s McCarthy era. Later, President Richard Nixon harassed political enemies with audits, and recently, Obama IRS official Lois Lerner hassled tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, openly encouraged Lerner's partisan abuse of conservative groups.
Now Dems want to misuse the IRS to go after a president they hate. Americans of every political persuasion should be alarmed.

On April 3, the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats instructed the IRS to hand over six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns, claiming the committee has a duty to make sure the IRS is correctly auditing the president and vice president

Pelosi insisted "Congress has an oversight responsibility to see that that is happening, if it has happened, and how it has happened." Pelosi's words are double talk

Congress doesn't need six years of Trump's filings to make sure the IRS is auditing presidential returns. Trump's only been in office two years. Even more telling, the Dems didn't request filings by any previous presidents.

The law doesn't even require the IRS to audit presidents. If Congress wants to take seriously its responsibility to make sure the IRS is doing its job, start with the $400 billion-a-year shortfall between what Uncle Sam is owed and what the agency actually collects.

The House Dems' legal struggle, paid for by taxpayers, will likely drag on to the Supreme Court. Success is far from guaranteed. In one ruling, SCOTUS ruled that Congress can demand information only for legislative purposes, not to investigate if someone has committed a crime.

As the president's lawyer, William Consovoy, warned, allowing the majority party in the House to demand tax returns will empower them to "attack, harass, and intimidate their political opponents." Not just Trump. Even their opponents vying for their seats in Congress.

Consovoy also reminded House Dems that Trump has "even greater authority than Congress to obtain individuals' tax returns." Pelosi and the gang would "surely balk" at that. Don't put it past Trump. He cancelled Pelosi's military plane ride to Afghanistan.