WEBVTT - Mnuchin Denies Democrats' Trump's Tax Returns Request

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. Laura Davison is

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg News tax reporters. She's got She's covered the tax

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<v Speaker 1>angle and President Trump's taxes from virtually every which angle,

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<v Speaker 1>from Deutsche Bank to all of the other large financial institutions.

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<v Speaker 1>Her latest story on the Bloomberg Terminal. The Bloomberg Terminal

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<v Speaker 1>says Manutian rejects House Democrats demand for Trump's tax returns.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean surprising no one, right, Laura, No, No, certainly,

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<v Speaker 1>we we knew this was coming pretty much from when

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<v Speaker 1>a month ago, when Neil first made this request, Neil

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<v Speaker 1>being the richie Neil of the Chairman of Ways and

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<v Speaker 1>Means Committee. There's been a polite back and forth, a

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<v Speaker 1>series of letters, and now we're sort of entering this

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<v Speaker 1>new phase. Manutian has said no, a uh, not gonna

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<v Speaker 1>hand these over, and now it's really up to Kneel

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<v Speaker 1>of you know, does he Sue does the issue with subpoena,

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<v Speaker 1>and then that of almost of course, is going to

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<v Speaker 1>go to the courts and play out over several months

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<v Speaker 1>of not years. Laura Davison is Bloomberg News tax reporter.

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<v Speaker 1>I love how you characterized that there's been these polite letters.

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<v Speaker 1>It's only in Washington where the president tweets whatever he wants.

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<v Speaker 1>Lawmakers go on cable and say whatever they want. But

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<v Speaker 1>then they have this like very formal, this formality of

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<v Speaker 1>like correspondence where they send these letters back and forth.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like just pick up the phone. But it is

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<v Speaker 1>interesting because no one, no one, not even Democrats, thought

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<v Speaker 1>that the president was gonna say, okay, you guys asked here,

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<v Speaker 1>here are my tax returns. I only campaign and won

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<v Speaker 1>a presidential election without releasing them. So now all of

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<v Speaker 1>a sudden, I'm going to change my mind. What is

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<v Speaker 1>this really about? Surely Democrats don't think that he's just

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<v Speaker 1>going to hand over his tax returns. Why are they

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<v Speaker 1>being so persistent. Well, for one, they have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of pressure from their base saying look, you know, we

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<v Speaker 1>need to see what's going going on. We need to

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<v Speaker 1>see how he's earning money from the Trump hotel, from

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<v Speaker 1>all of US businesses that he hasn't fully relinquished control of,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they've kind of got themselves locked into this

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<v Speaker 1>this angle right now that there is still some skepticism

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<v Speaker 1>from Democrats. Know, even Neil who's been in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>this whole process, has been very deliberate, very slow moving,

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to make sure he had all his legal angles

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<v Speaker 1>tied up. And I think there's some concern, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>with all of the different investigations into the president, that

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<v Speaker 1>Democrats look like they're overreaching. So this is the balance

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<v Speaker 1>that Pelosi is always trying to manage of. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>how are we you know, showing that we're putting pressure

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<v Speaker 1>on the president and and and appealing to to Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>voters that are really fired up, but also you know,

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<v Speaker 1>not turning away some of those voters that were in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle that they're going to want to pick up.

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<v Speaker 1>Is remarkable. I mean, it truly is remarkable. And I

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<v Speaker 1>think so often we lose sight of why there was

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<v Speaker 1>a time when Republicans we're calling for the release of

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<v Speaker 1>of folks tax returns, including private citizen Donald Trump when

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<v Speaker 1>he was running for president, but but also for Democrats,

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<v Speaker 1>and the issue really here is is to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that our elected leaders correct me if I'm wrong. Law

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure that our elected leaders aren't beholden to

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<v Speaker 1>any foreign companies or foreign governments. And that is why

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<v Speaker 1>people want the tax tax returns, right. I mean, it

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<v Speaker 1>really has a less to do with who's occupying a

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<v Speaker 1>position of power and more to just say, Okay, you

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<v Speaker 1>know this government had this investment, so maybe they have

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<v Speaker 1>this year, So why not just have a law that

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<v Speaker 1>says that they that they would get financial clearance from

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<v Speaker 1>the intelligence community as opposed to just pestering for these

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<v Speaker 1>and hammering for these tax returns. That's certainly one one

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<v Speaker 1>way that they could go about it. You know, Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>have been really focused on this you know, oversight bill

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<v Speaker 1>that they want to work on that that would require

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<v Speaker 1>a release of ten years of tax returns. But there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of different ways you could you could skin

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<v Speaker 1>this cat in terms of making sure that that people

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<v Speaker 1>who are you know, in positions of power, occupying the

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<v Speaker 1>White House, you know, are not beholden to any foreign

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<v Speaker 1>government or or have you know, lots of debt that

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<v Speaker 1>would behold them to some specific business interest. I think

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<v Speaker 1>that the thing here that Democrats are really focusing on

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<v Speaker 1>is you know, we want the public to see and

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<v Speaker 1>that the voters can see for themselves, and then they're

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<v Speaker 1>not just you know, taking it from from some other source.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. Yesterday on our other Bloomberg radio show, sound

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<v Speaker 1>on UH, we were talking with the Republican and Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>strategists and how Democrats are really just trying to paint

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<v Speaker 1>this picture of a culture of corruption and that corruption

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<v Speaker 1>message is what they're hoping will fuel them into the

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<v Speaker 1>next cycle. And Republicans, as you mentioned, large, say bring

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<v Speaker 1>it on, because we're gonna say we're gonna fight back

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<v Speaker 1>and say that you're overreaching. So it's it's it is

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<v Speaker 1>interesting to see how these data points all aligned into

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<v Speaker 1>the picture of I think most Americans and either party

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<v Speaker 1>are saying that's how business gets done in Washington, regardless

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<v Speaker 1>of the political party. Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Law Podcast. You can subscribe and listen to the show

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<v Speaker 1>on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm June Brosso. This is Bloomberg m HM.