Republicans in the U.S. Congress, including Representative Fred Upton, are enabling President Donald Trump to continue hiding his tax returns from the American people.
They are doing this despite very serious national security concerns about possible conflicts of interest related to Trump’s business dealings with Russia.
Trump’s oldest son, who has been a high-ranking executive in his father’s company for many years, is on record saying that the Trump organization has received a great deal of financial support from Russian financiers.
His Secretary of State was awarded the Order of Friendship by the Russian government and has opposed sanctions against Russia.
His former National Security Advisor worked as a paid analyst for the Russian state media.
His Attorney General, while a Trump campaign surrogate, met more than once with the Russian ambassador and withheld that information during his confirmation.
And his likely Secretary of Commerce bought the failing Bank of Cyprus, which has a history of laundering Russian money. The connections are far too numerous and widespread to be coincidental.
How much money does the President’s company owe to Russian oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin? Why has Donald Trump undermined our NATO allies while supporting Putin’s aggression in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine? Why has Trump repeatedly praised Putin, even when confronted with the fact that he has been a ruthless autocrat who has jailed and, at times, murdered, his political opponents?
These are very serious questions that require very serious investigation.
Our country’s national security agencies (all of them) reported that the Russian government engaged in cyberattacks against Trump’s opponent during the presidential campaign. Our most prominent newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post, have reported that intelligence officials have found significant evidence that members of the Trump campaign had repeated contacts with Russian officials, including security officials, during the presidential campaign.
What is the relationship between President Trump, his associates, and the Russian government? The easiest and best way to begin answering this question is by examining Trump’s tax returns.
All members of the U.S. Congress, Republicans as well as Democrats, should be demanding this information, but so far the Republicans have resisted such efforts. This needs to stop.
Congressional Republicans need to join with their Democratic colleagues to compel Donald Trump or the Internal Revenue Service to reveal his tax returns. They have the power to do this ­— it is way past time for them to use this power.
In addition, Congress needs to create a bipartisan commission to investigate Russian interference in our election, and possible current Russian influence in our government. Republicans and Democrats need to put partisan concerns aside and put our country’s security first. Congressman Fred Upton needs to step up and represent us, not his party.
Larry Feldman
Lakeside