Cuomo to back NY effort to obtain Trump tax returns

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is throwing his support behind efforts in the state legislature to obtain President Trump’s tax returns.

Legislation was introduced Monday by state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D) that would enable the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to release any individual’s tax returns if they are requested by certain congressional committees. 

{mosads}Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, told the New York Times that Cuomo supports the bill “as long as it applies to everybody.”

A New York state senator told the Times that the bill will likely be debated this week by Democrats in the chamber and could be passed after the upcoming recess that ends April 29.

David Buchwald, an assemblyman who supports the legislation, told the Times that he feels it “is incumbent upon us” to make sure the public has access to Trump’s taxes.

“There’s a copy of President Trump’s New York state tax returns right here in New York State, in an office somewhere,” he said.

The push by the legislature comes after Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) last week formally requested Trump’s taxes, which Democrats have called for since he became the first major party presidential nominee in decades not to release them. In a letter to the IRS, Neal cited Section 6103 of the federal tax code, which permits Congress’s tax committees to privately view tax information of any filer.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, however, predicted Sunday that Democrats will “never” see Trump’s taxes.