Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden goes after Donald Trump’s tax returns

| 6:56 pm EDT March 29, 2017
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On the eve of the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, one member of that committee is formally and publicly asking two of his fellow committee members to join him in his effort to unearth Trump’s tax returns. Senator Ron Wyden, who sits on the Intel Committee and is also the ranking Democrat of the Finance Committee, is leading that charge.

Wyden sent a public letter to the two ranking members of the Senate Intel Committee this evening, Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner, making the case for why they should support his efforts on the Finance Committee to unearth Trump’s taxes. This may sound overly complicated, but Senate committees have differing purviews and often have overlapping members. Burr and Warner both happen to be on the Finance Committee in addition the the Intel Committee. We’ve copied Wyden’s letter below:


Unearthing Donald Trump’s tax returns will require the participation of at least a few Republican Senators along with the Democratic Senators. Thus far at least some Republicans in the Senate have taken concrete steps in formally supporting the Trump-Russia investigation. For instance Republican Chuck Grassley has joined Democrat Dianne Feinstein in pursuing some aspects, while Republican Lindsey Graham has aligned himself with Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in pursuing others (source).

The most prominent instance of a Republican Senator supporting the Trump-Russia investigation has come from Susan Collins, who tilted the single-vote majority on the Senate Intel Committee to the Democrats and handed them the ability to push forward as aggressively as they can. Collins has already publicly stated that she’ll seek Trump’s tax returns if she finds it “necessary” to fully unmask the Russia scandal (source). With Ron Wyden also pursuing Trump’s taxes via the Finance Committee, that means at least two prominent Senate committees are both pursuing the matter.

But for now, Ron Wyden appears to have sent his letter this evening to the two ranking members of the Intelligence Committee as a pretext for tomorrow’s hearings, so that he can use tomorrow’s national stage in front of the cameras to make his case to the public as to why the Senate should see Donald Trump’s tax returns. Contribute to Palmer Report