Congress Really Can Demand, And Get, Trump’s Tax Returns. Here’s How

Then-candidate Donald Trump, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony during the opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., along with his adult children and wife, Melania. Democrats have vowed to get hold of Trump’s tax returns if they win a chamber of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi vowed this week to demand President Trump’s tax returns if Democrats win control of the House of Representatives next month.

Pelosi, seeking to regain her gavel as House speaker after elections in November, told The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board that the move “is one of the first things we’d do — that’s the easiest thing in the world. That’s nothing.”

Trump, unlike other presidents in recent decades, has refused to make his returns public. He also has refused to divest himself of businesses and investments that could pose domestic or international conflicts of interest. For example, the Trump International Hotel, located just blocks from the White House, regularly hosts events with foreign diplomats, interest groups and industry associations.