Sanford on Trump's Tax Returns: "I Care"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 11, 2017

SANFORD ON TRUMP'S TAX RETURNS: "I CARE"

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Representative Mark Sanford released the following statement in response to President-elect Trump’s claims that only reporters care about his tax returns:

“I think it’s a grave mistake for President-elect Trump to assume that no one - except reporters - cares about whether or not he releases his tax returns. 

“I care - or more aptly said, I still care. I cared five months ago when I wrote an op-ed published in The New York Times on this very issue. And I care now because the consequences of not doing so will echo into future campaigns.

“This is not about invading his privacy or looking for avenues into opposition research. This is about upholding precedent and encouraging transparency. Refusing to release his tax returns now will likely lead to much the same from future presidential candidates, and I predict that a trickle-down effect will occur where down-ballot candidates won’t feel pressured to do so either. 

“If President-elect Trump wants us to take him at his word, then certainly he should hold true to his former promises to make his tax returns public.”

If you would like to read Representative Sanford’s August 2016 New York Times op-ed, please click here.

Rep. Sanford cosponsored H.R. 5386, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, a bipartisan bill which requires major party candidates running for president to release their previous three years of federal tax returns.