Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said in an interview that aired Friday on “Rising” that House Democrats plan to look into President Trump’s tax returns, along with his foreign business contacts, in the new Congress that starts next month.
“We will conduct oversight where it was not conducted in the last two years,” Swalwell, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball.
“That includes primarily filling in the gaps with what happened with Russia to protect the upcoming election, seeing the president’s tax returns so that we can have a better idea of how his financial interests are driving domestic and foreign policy,” he continued.
“Also making sure that no longer is the president able to cash in on access to the Oval Office for using his businesses to have foreigners frequent them and patronize them so that he benefits and our foreign policy is skewed,” Swalwell added. “We can shine a light where abuses occur and then intervene where it protects everyday Americans.”
Other Democrats have also signaled that they are eager to probe Trump once they officially take over the majority in the House.
Swalwell’s comments come amid fallout over Michael Cohen’s sentencing this week and his claim that the president directed his former personal attorney to pay off two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump so their stories would not influence the 2016 presidential race.
Court filings from special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York have sparked outrage among Democrats, but members have remained cautious about the issue of impeachment.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), likely the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that it would “certainly” be an impeachable offense if it’s proven that Trump directed illegal payments during his campaign, but added that it was important to question whether the payments were important enough “to justify an impeachment.”
— Julia Manchester
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