New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is urging IRS workers to leak President Donald Trump's tax returns to him.
Kristof, a longtime staffer at the Times, made his plea to the IRS on Twitter:
But The Hill noted releasing an individual's unauthorized tax returns is a felony.
"While reporters who publish illegally obtained information that they did not solicit are traditionally not prosecuted, the legal picture becomes less clear if the reporters are involved in the leaking of the information," it said.
The Times received a portion of Trump's 1995 tax documents from a source last September and printed it a few days later, according to The Hill. It prompted a letter from Trump's attorney, who claimed publishing the documents was "illegal."
Times Editor Dean Baquet has said he would risk jail time to publish Trump's taxes returns.
The Daily Caller reported the "unauthorized release of an individual's tax returns is punishable by a fine of $5,000 and up to five years in prison."