New York Democrats are working on a new tactic to obtain President Donald Trump’s state tax returns, which could reveal much of the information contained in his federal returns, The New York Times reports.
A new bill expected to be introduced on Monday would allow the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to release any state tax return that’s been requested by the heads of three committees, the Senate Finance Committee; the House Ways and Means Committee; and the Joint Committee on Taxation, for a “specific and legitimate legislative purpose.”
The committee leaders would each have to issue a written request for the information following a request to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The bill is sponsored by Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, who said the bill is meant to act as “a safety valve for any attempt by the White House to block the Congress from doing this at the federal level.”
“The state return, presumably, has to match the federal return,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.R., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “It just makes the work of the federal committee, that has a legitimate reason to look into this, a little easier to see the complete picture.”
“This is a bill of attainder, aimed at one person,” said Ed Cox, who chairs the New York State Republican Party. He described the strategy as “outrageous politics,” mean to help Gov. Andrew Cuomo politically.