Senator Harry Reid And Senate Dems Tell Donald Trump To Release Tax Returns And Stop Disrespecting the Presidency


It is no secret that Democrat Senate leader Senator Harry Reid takes issue with Donald Trump on many levels. Donald Trump has made fun of Senator Harry Reid’s recent accident that left him blind in one eye for starters. But Senator Harry Reid is not as concerned about that, as he is about Trump’s character, and all of the Senate Democrats are behind him on that.

This feud has percolated to a boiling point this week with the entire group of Senate Democrats, who are now saying, “Tax returns please, Mr. Trump.” In fact, the Guardian reports that on Thursday, Senator Reid and the Senate Democrats said, failure to produce tax returns is evidence that Trump is “ethically compromised” and is disrespectful of the Presidency.

The Senate Democrats are not the only ones that are thinking this way. CNN says they’ve asked Trump supporters in key swing states of Ohio and Florida what they think about Trump not releasing the returns, and they say, Trump supporters are losing faith in Trump because of the tax returns issue. That is a problem at this stage of the game for Donald Trump.

There’s an easy way to fix that, Mr. Trump, say the Senate Democrats: Tax returns, please.

Senator Reid has called Donald Trump many things, from immoral to being a fraud and con-artist, and worse. But according to the Guardian, Senator Reid went on Capitol Hill yesterday and said Trump was “misleading the American people.” He also said,

“And that is a gross understatement. The America people deserve and respect that any leader of the free world would be transparent. But Trump doesn’t do it, because he doesn’t respect the office he is seeking or the American people.”

In a separate report, CNN reports that Donald Trump Jr. “stepped in it again” and said this week that if his father were to release his tax returns, people would scrutinize them, and that’s the reason they aren’t being released. Yes, that is true, that is what is supposed to happen when one is running for President, and Donald Trump is certainly not above scrutiny.

Even Donald Trump has said himself, you would almost think there was something wrong with someone that was running for that office, and didn’t release tax returns to the public.

That is the fundamental reason why everyone from the Senate Democrats to Trump supporters want him to release them, to scrutinize them to see if he’s as honest as he claims. Or, to see if there is something wrong. And there are a lot of people right up to the Senate floor saying today, “You would almost think there was like, something wrong with Mr. Trump for not releasing them.”

When it comes to his own tax returns though, Donald Trump completely flip flops and doesn’t seem to think he applies to that mentality of, “something must be wrong” if someone refuses to submit them. He told ABC News that, the voters don’t have that right to see them. He said that to George Stephanopolous from ABC News in this video of phone interview right here, where Trump speaks of tax returns and multiple other issues.

The section of the interview on tax returns begins at the 1:26 mark. Donald Trump issues the old audit excuse, and begins talking about Hillary Clinton to get the questions off of the tax returns. Watch how George Stephanopolous calls him on the audit excuse right here, starting at 1:26.

The Senate Democrats are tired of the excuses, and have a plan to change this for the future with new legislation that will require Presidential candidates to release the returns reports the Guardian. The Bill is called S. 3348, or, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act and is sponsored by 8 Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine. It’s something Tim Kaine has been pushing for in the Senate since long before he even became Vice Presidential candidate.

There’s little chance this will pass before November, but it will change things for the future, especially if Donald Trump ever decides to run again. The Bill had its first read on September 15, and its second read on September 19.

The Guardian reports that it is the Republicans that are trying to block this Act, although many key Republicans also believe that Donald Trump should release the returns. Both the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have also said, tax returns please, Mr. Trump.

But Donald Trump says, he’s under audit and won’t release them until that is complete. But why? In 1973, President Nixon released his tax returns, while they are under audit reports CNN. And as we previously reported, the IRS has said, you can release returns being audited, all you have to do is release the original, we just can’t do it for you.

After Elections 2016, the audit excuse will long be considered by many as the oldest excuse in the book for an individual that claims their returns can’t be released. It begs the question, among many others, what is he being audited for? Even Donald Trump said in the above interview with George Stephanopolous, many of his wealthy friends don’t get audited, but he does every year.

Why? What does Donald Trump not want the world to know? These are the questions being asked on the Senate floor, and on Capitol Hill.

Because Trump has not released his returns, it leaves the reasons why open to speculation, until he does. And this is exactly what the Democratic Senators have done, in efforts to apply more pressure to Donald Trump to release those tax returns.

In the presser on Capitol Hill Friday, Senate Democrats said, there’s definitely something “about his business practices, charitable giving, and ties to foreign governments” that Donald Trump does not want the world to know, reports the Guardian. Senator Chris Murphy, who has also sponsored the Presidential Tax Transparency Act said,

“It’s likely those returns will show major income for Trump and his family from Russia – from Russian business interests, from Russian oligarchs. It will show that the decisions he will make on whether to turn on or off sanctions against Russia could have multi-million-dollar impact on his wealth. That’s not embarrassing, that’s disqualifying.”

Senator Murphy is actually saying, if Trump released his returns, something bad would come out, and he would lose the election, and ultimately disqualify himself. Russia is discussed a lot with Donald Trump, as a key speculation as to why he won’t release the returns.

http://twitter.com/BillyJoel_Bot/status/765043390790635521

Earlier this week the Inquisitr also reported on how the Trump Foundation is under investigation, because it had been used to pay off politicians, and also pay Trump’s own legal bills. Charitable giving, and questions about how Donald Trump manages that is also another leading speculation by the Senate Dems as to why he won’t release the returns.

But it’s not a game he can play forever, because even Trump supporters are losing faith in Trump because of the returns issue reports CNN. Worse, they are supporters in key swing states.

CNN spoke to 70 Trump supporters in key swing states, and a retiree from Orlando, Florida, said, “I don’t know what the hold up is.” A woman from Waverly, Ohio, an Independent, said, she wants to see them before November, and won’t completely commit to her vote until she sees what happens in the coming weeks.

Jimmy Kimmel talked to Trump supporters about it too, in a hysterical video he calls “Lie Witness News.” He made up a fake tax return of Donald Trump’s, and went to the streets asking Trump supporters if they thought some of the claims on this fake tax return were considered okay by them.

Although that is humorous to watch, the truth of the matter about the real returns is that Donald Trump not releasing the returns is “concerning to voters.” A Quinnipac University poll shows that 91 percent of Democrats likely to vote find the tax returns issue concerning, and 61 percent of Republicans find it concerning too.

Now, some of the most powerful Senators in America are saying, it’s not just a concern, it’s disrespectful to the Presidency. Senator Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats have now placed Donald Trump a level below former President Richard Nixon.

That should be a concern to Donald Trump as well. Are you concerned that Donald Trump hasn’t released his tax returns?

[Featured Image by Susan Walsh/AP Images]

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