Most Americans say new Dem majority should publicize Trump tax returns: poll

A majority of Americans said in a new poll that they would like the Democratic-held House to use its authority to make President Trump’s tax returns public.

The ABC News/Washington Post survey found that 60 percent of respondents want the House to obtain and release the president’s tax returns. The move is supported by 86 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents, the poll showed.

Roughly 25 percent of Republican respondents indicated they would support the House making Trump’s tax returns public, according to the poll.

{mosads}Federal law allows the chairmen of Congress’s tax-writing committees to request returns from Treasury, so that the documents can be reviewed in a closed session. A committee could then vote to send a report to the full House or Senate, which could make part or all of the tax returns public.

Despite pressure from progressive groups who are clamoring for the president’s tax returns, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said the effort to obtain the documents has to be prepared carefully, as it is likely to spawn legal challenges.

The president broke with decades of precedent when he opted not to release his tax returns during the 2016 presidential campaign. 

Democrats and critics of the president have suggested that his tax returns could reveal potential conflicts of interest.

About half of respondents, 51 percent, also said in the poll released early Sunday that they believe Democrats will handle their oversight role in the House “just right,” — 34 percent — or won’t go far enough — 17 percent — while 46 percent said they think the majority will go too far in its investigations of the president.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll surveyed 1,001 people from Jan. 21-24, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.