WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) joined U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in reintroducing legislation, called the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require President-elect Trump and future presidential nominees to release their recent tax returns. The bill would give the American public honest insight into the President-elect’s income, holdings, and foreign business dealings.

“Americans deserve to know if the President of the United States is making decisions on behalf of the citizens of this country or to protect his own investments,” said Murphy. “The presidency is the most powerful position in the world – with the stroke of a pen the President can lift or impose sanctions, affect federal contracts, or influence foreign government actions. The person sitting in that office shouldn’t be hiding anything about his or her financial interests.”

The Presidential Tax Transparency Act requires all sitting presidents to release their most recent 3 years of tax returns to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).  It also requires that, within 15 days of becoming the nominee at the party convention, presidential nominees must release their most recent 3 years of tax returns to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Should the sitting president or future candidates refuse to comply, the Treasury Secretary will be required to provide the tax returns directly to the OGE or FEC respectively for public release.

For nearly 40 years—since Watergate—candidates from major political parties have voluntarily released tax returns during the campaign. 

A one-page summary of the legislative proposal can be found here. The bill text can be found here.  Murphy joined Wyden in introducing the bill for the first time during the 114th session of Congress.

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