Trump Taxes to Remain Hidden As Senators Loeffler and Burr Face Fire for Dumping Stocks Ahead of Coronavirus Crash
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President Donald Trump’s tax returns will remain hidden at least a while longer, even as GOP Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler face scrutiny over stock sales made weeks before the coronavirus pandemic crashed markets.
On Thursday, Loeffler and Burr were revealed to have made significant and suspicious stock sales following a January briefing on the COVID-19 crisis, even prompting Fox News personality Tucker Carlson to call for Burr’s resignation. Three other senators are also facing scrutiny over stock market activity ahead of the precipitous market crashes of the past few weeks.
Those blockbuster stories are the result of financial disclosures made by the senators, as required by law. But Trump has made only minimal financial disclosures since taking office, and while many have sought to dig into his tax returns, Trump has refused to disclose them despite past promises to do so.
Now, the coronavirus pandemic has placed another obstacle between the public and Trump’s tax returns. This week, the Supreme Court postponed all oral arguments for the month of March:
In keeping with public health precautions recommended in response to COVID-19, the Supreme Court is postponing the oral arguments currently scheduled for the March session (March 23-25 and March 30-April 1). The Court will examine the options for rescheduling those cases in due course in light of the developing circumstances.
Those arguments include a March 31 hearing on three cases involving the release of Trump’s tax records. But according to SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein, those cases are likely to remain near the top of the Court’s list when arguments resume:
There are four cases—raising two issues—in which the court is likely to conclude that oral argument is necessary and cannot be deferred so long. Two are the presidential tax return cases. (Technically, they are three cases, Nos. 19-635, 19-715 and 19-760, scheduled for two arguments.) Those have direct implications for ongoing congressional investigations of the president and an ongoing grand jury investigation.
The other two are the so-called “faithless electors” cases (Nos. 19-465 and 19-518). (These were originally scheduled for one hour of argument, but now are set for two because of the recusal of Justice Sonia Sotomayor from No. 19-518.) Those have direct implications for the 2020 presidential election, because they involve voting in the electoral college.
These four cases will require the court to navigate serious concerns of public health, the justices’ own health and the public’s access to the court’s proceedings. Here, I think the court is likely to hold oral arguments in April or May, but under unique and stringent procedures required by the circumstances.
Burr’s stock dump is aggravated by the revelation that even as he and Trump publicly downplayed the coronavirus crisis, Burr painted a much more dire picture in a private speech to donors.
