Could the Russia Investigation Reveal Trump’s Tax Returns?
If special prosecutor Robert Mueller suspects they contain evidence of a crime, the most sought-after documents in Washington might just be unearthed.
President Donald Trump has already described the multiple investigations into possible collusion between Russia and his presidential campaign as a “witch hunt”—the word he has used in several angry tweetstorms since entering the White House. But he might be even more disturbed when he realizes that the latest of those investigations—by the newly named special prosecutor, former FBI Director Robert Mueller—could amount to a double-punch to the president and resolve one of the greatest mysteries of the 2016 campaign:
What, exactly, is in Trump’s tax returns?
The president and his beleaguered White House staff have given no outward sign that they have thought about the prospect yet. But in interviews, veteran federal prosecutors and legal scholars said that Mueller, who began his investigation only last week, has clear-cut authority to obtain the president’s tax returns—perhaps the most sensitive and sought-after government documents since the Pentagon Papers—from the IRS if Mueller suspects they might contain evidence of a crime.
And short of firing Mueller and shutting down his investigation, Trump—who is the first president in 40 years to refuse to make his tax returns public, despite once promising to do so— would have almost no way of stopping him. In fact, the prosecutors said, the president and his lawyers would not necessarily even know that Mueller had obtained them.
“It shows the chaos around Washington that nobody has really started to talk about this yet,” said a Justice Department lawyer who deals with tax fraud prosecutions, speaking on condition of anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to reporters. “But finally, I think, someone is going to get their hands on Donald Trump’s tax returns. And that man is Robert Mueller.”
More: Could the Russia Investigation Reveal Trump’s Tax Returns?
So, Mueller could get Trump's tax returns without him even knowing it. Very interesting...
If special prosecutor Robert Mueller suspects they contain evidence of a crime, the most sought-after documents in Washington might just be unearthed.
President Donald Trump has already described the multiple investigations into possible collusion between Russia and his presidential campaign as a “witch hunt”—the word he has used in several angry tweetstorms since entering the White House. But he might be even more disturbed when he realizes that the latest of those investigations—by the newly named special prosecutor, former FBI Director Robert Mueller—could amount to a double-punch to the president and resolve one of the greatest mysteries of the 2016 campaign:
What, exactly, is in Trump’s tax returns?
The president and his beleaguered White House staff have given no outward sign that they have thought about the prospect yet. But in interviews, veteran federal prosecutors and legal scholars said that Mueller, who began his investigation only last week, has clear-cut authority to obtain the president’s tax returns—perhaps the most sensitive and sought-after government documents since the Pentagon Papers—from the IRS if Mueller suspects they might contain evidence of a crime.
And short of firing Mueller and shutting down his investigation, Trump—who is the first president in 40 years to refuse to make his tax returns public, despite once promising to do so— would have almost no way of stopping him. In fact, the prosecutors said, the president and his lawyers would not necessarily even know that Mueller had obtained them.
“It shows the chaos around Washington that nobody has really started to talk about this yet,” said a Justice Department lawyer who deals with tax fraud prosecutions, speaking on condition of anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to reporters. “But finally, I think, someone is going to get their hands on Donald Trump’s tax returns. And that man is Robert Mueller.”
More: Could the Russia Investigation Reveal Trump’s Tax Returns?
So, Mueller could get Trump's tax returns without him even knowing it. Very interesting...
