Donald Trump should be thrilled that House Democrats are getting his tax returns
Imagine if the Democratic Congress voted into law the legal imperative for a border wall, together with the funds necessary to build it. Isn’t that essentially what Congress is doing by issuing a subpoena for five years worth of Trump’s tax returns? Are they not merely assisting him in fulfilling a campaign promise to release his returns if elected? And if Donald Trump secretly doesn’t want his tax returns released after all, why, he can merely sit back and relax in the reassured comfort of the knowledge that, since he is currently under audit, there is no way the Internal Revenue Service can legally comply with Congress. I mean, “everybody knows,” to use a shopworn Trumpism, that you can’t release your tax returns while you’re under IRS audit, right?
True, finally being able to see Trump’s tax returns makes for an ideal opportunity for Trump to show the world what a “stable genius” he is at finances. It couldn’t have come at a better time, when you stop to think of it, what with the recent New York Times article exposing how he lost a billion dollars from 1985 to 1994. Trump can finally show up all those idiots and liars on Twitter with their trending #BillionDollarLoser talk, and all that other talk of what a lousy businessman he is and all. Right?
Another good thing about all this, as far as Trump is concerned, is, say what you like concerning just about anything else, one thing a tax return isn’t and can never be is Fake News. At long last, Donald Trump’s truth finally and once and for all can shine through, unadulterated, unsullied, uncontaminated by Fake News! A tax return is a legal document signed off on by both parties and their accountants. It isn’t a rumor, it isn’t an innuendo, it isn’t a partisan ploy, it’s simply and incontestably the truth of what you claim your income, your deductions, your tax deferrals and your federal tax owed is – together with confirming bank statements and other verifiable documentation. And it’s got your signature on it. For the first time in his presidential life, Donald Trump has nothing to worry about. Absolutely not a whiff of Fake News here!
Based on everything Donald Trump has told us to date, I have no choice but to conclude that a subpoena from Congress demanding the most recent six years worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns is the best news he’s had in a long, long time. That’s assuming Trump has told us the truth, of course. And what possible reason would we have for not believing that he has? So, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. This should all be very good news for Donald Trump. Right?
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.