While Donald Trump is on the verge of having articles of impeachment filed against him for his role in the growing Ukraine scandal which was precipitated by a complaint from a whistleblower working in the intelligence committee, another whistleblower — this one with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — appears to have information regarding the president’s taxes.
The Washington Post reports that the two leading senators on the Senate Finance Committee, are looking into allegations that a Trump political appointee blocked an audit of the president or vice president:
“Staff members for Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, met with the IRS whistleblower earlier this month, those people said. Follow-up interviews are expected to further explore the whistleblower’s allegations.”
The complaint was first filed in July, when a career IRS official informed Congress that at least one Trump appointee had improperly interfered with the audit process. Trump has repeatedly said that he cannot release his tax returns because he’s under audit. But this whistleblower complaint raises a much more serious possibility: That Trump or other top officials in the administration are getting political appointees to shield them from potential audits.
Just last week, another federal judge ruled that Trump has to hand over his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, in keeping with federal statute. Attorneys for the president have now appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the matter before the 2020 election. If the high court decides that the president is required to turn his taxes over to the committee, it could wind up being a part of the impeachment inquiry or politically embarrassing while Trump is seeking reelection.
The very fact that Trump remains unwilling to let anyone see his taxes suggests he has something to hide. And if he’s got IRS officials trying to keep him from being audited, those people are also in very hot water.