Trump should resist giving up his tax returns with every bone in his body

Democrats are understandably eager to use their new House majority to obtain copies of President Trump’s federal tax returns. Trump should nonetheless refuse to comply with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal’s (D-Mass.) request.

Neal’s request relies on a 1924 law, passed during the investigation of the Teapot Dome bribery scandal. That scandal involved allegations that the interior secretary, Albert Fall, had received bribes to award leases for oil production on federal lands. The law Neal relies on establishes that the IRS must provide tax returns or tax information upon the request of House or Senate committee chairpersons, including the House Ways and Means Committee chair.

The law’s intent should be read in the context of the manner of its passage. Congress was investigating an allegation that a Cabinet officer had used his public office for private gain. It needed access to his tax records to see if Fall had in fact recorded a significant increase in income at the time the leases were extended, a fact that could then be investigated to see if there was a connection between the income and the public act.