Array
Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to stop the turning over of his tax returns to a House committee, the latest in a series of attempts by the former President to keep that information from going public.
Trump’s latest gambit came days after a federal appeals court declined to hold up the release of his tax returns to the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee.
“No Congress has ever wielded its legislative powers to demand a President’s tax returns,” Trump said in his emergency request to the Supreme Court.
Trump broke with recent tradition for presidents and presidential candidates by refusing to release his past tax records, insisting that he was under audit and therefore could not release the returns. He can release them even while he’s under audit. He has also repeatedly insisted that tax returns provide little financial information. (This is also not true.)
Trump’s repeated attempts to keep his tax returns private – over years – begs the simple question: Why? And there are several potential reasons that jump to mind:
1) Trump may not be as rich as he says he is. Not long after Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, he said he was worth upwards of $10 billion. Forbes estimated his net worth was less than half that that year. Trump appears to use outlandishly elevated claims of his wealth as proof positive he is smarter (and better) than most people.
