A Protest On April 15 Will Demand Donald Trump To Release His Tax Returns
The Women’s March on Washington spurred a national event that turned into the biggest protest in U.S. history. The day after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, an estimated 3.3 million protesters participated in marches in small and large cities across the country.
The march on Saturday focused on women’s rights, but the next protest will demand Trump to release his tax returns.
Throughout the campaign, Trump said countless times that he will eventually release his tax returns. Politico reports that Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to the president, was asked about Trump’s tax returns yet again on ABC’s This Week.
Instead of repeating her frequent answer that Trump’s tax returns will be released when the IRS is finished with the audit, the new answer is apparently never.
“He’s not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care,” Conway said. “They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans… are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like.”
Sen. Ron Wyden asked his Twitter followers if they cared about Trump’s tax returns, and nearly 100,000 retweets later, it appears that Conway is wrong when she says that people don’t care. On Tax Day, it looks like a protest will take place to send that message to Trump.
Retweet if you care about @realDonaldTrump's tax returns
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 11, 2017
After a few viral tweets, it looks like the next march is currently in the beginning stages of being organized for April 15. Taxes will actually be due on April 18 this year because the standard date falls on a weekend.
Dear #WomensMarch organizers: please organize a #TrumpTaxesMarch for April 15th. I am happy to help. We all are.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 23, 2017
Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, nearly three-quarters of voters still want to see Trump’s tax returns. ABC News reported last week that the poll clearly contradicts comments made by the Trump administration that the public doesn’t care about Trump’s taxes.
“Seventy-four present overall say [Trump] should release his tax returns; that includes 49 percent of his own supporters, as well as nearly all of Clinton’s (94 percent) and 83 percent of those who had another preference, or none.”
After Conway said Trump will not be releasing his tax returns, WikiLeaks tweeted that they will gladly publish it for all to see.
“Trump’s breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts,” the group tweeted.
The advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) officially filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming Trump has violated a clause in the Constitution banning the president from profiting from foreign governments. If the lawsuit is successful, Trump will be forced to submit his tax returns to the court.
The New York Times was the first to report the lawsuit filed claiming Trump’s violation of the emoluments clause in the Constitution.
“The suit, which will not seek any monetary damages, will ask a federal court in New York to order Mr. Trump to stop taking payments from foreign government entities.”
When asked about the lawsuit, Trump said it’s without merit.
Trump’s failure to release his tax returns and officially cut ties with his business is going to be a major issue throughout Trump’s first term. Although the CREW lawsuit will need a lot of luck to reach the Supreme Court before the end of Trump’s first term, the likelihood that Tax Day will be another massive anti-Trump protest sets the stage for what will be a tumultuous four years ahead.
[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
