At town hall, Republican congressman says Trump 'absolutely' should release his tax returns

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative Republican from Florida, caught constituents off guard on Thursday when he agreed that President Trump should release his tax returns.

During a town hall in Pace, a woman told Gaetz her family has been in the United States for 400 years, and she has had relatives fight in every major war. "There are allegations a foreign government has infiltrated our government at the highest levels," she said, before asking Gaetz if he would demand that Trump release his tax returns in order to show any ties to Russia. The crowd began to boo Gaetz, CNN reports, but he quickly interjected, "If you hear me out, you'll like my answer.... Absolutely, Donald Trump should release his tax returns." That earned him some rare applause, though he did not back subpoenaing Trump's returns.

At most town halls held this week by Republican lawmakers, the issue of Trump's taxes has been a major point of conversation. Unlike every other major party nominee since 1972, Trump did not release his tax returns during his campaign, claiming that he was under audit and had been advised not to do so.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.