"The
unprecedented economic conflicts of this administration need to be visible to
the American people."
Donald
Trump was sworn in to office Friday as the 45th president of the United States,
and not long afterward, a petition was created on the official White House site
demanding he release his tax returns.
Trump,
a former reality TV star and businessman, was dogged by reporters and rivals on
the campaign trail to release his taxes, which he refused to do because he says
he is "under audit."
"The
unprecedented economic conflicts of this administration need to be visible to
the American people, including any pertinent documentation which can reveal the
foreign influences and financial interests which may put Donald Trump in
conflict with the emoluments clause of the Constitution," according to the
petition, which has more than 17,000 signatures.
Should
the petition reach 100,000 by Feb. 19, the White House will have to issue an
official response.
A
portion of Trump's old returns from 1995 were leaked to The New York Times,
which promptly reported them in October. Those leaked documents showed the real
estate mogul lost nearly $1 billion that year, which in turn meant he could
avoid paying taxes for nearly 20 years.
Trump
has stood firm that he will not release his taxes, even going so far to say at
his most recent news conference last week that the media are the only ones who
care, not the public who voted him into office.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
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