House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler responded Wednesday to a New York Times report that President Trump lost more than $1 billion dollars from 1985 to 1994, saying it shows Mr. Trump is a “two-bit conman.”
“What it shows is that the president is a total liar and a two-bit conman. Those of us who knew him in New York knew that for many years. People wouldn’t deal with him and knew you couldn’t believe a word he said and knew banks wouldn’t lend him money, except for Deutsche Bank,” the New York Democrat said on CNN’s “Don Lemon” show.
Mr. Nadler then brought up the House Ways and Means Committee’s blocked request for six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns.
“It doubles down on the reasoning for asking for his tax returns. But here, it’s not a question of a subpoena. The law says that the Ways and Means Committee may request anyone’s tax returns and when they do, the IRS must, must supply it. And Secretary [Steven T.] Mnuchin by saying ’I’m not going to supply it’ is just breaking the law,” Mr. Nadler said.
“There’s no excuse. He doesn’t even say ’I’m breaking the law’ — actually, he says, ’They don’t have a legitimate legislative purpose.’ That’s not for him to decide. The law says he must supply it and another example of this administration simply being lawless and refusing to follow the law. And that is intolerable,” the congressman said.
The House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt Wednesday for not providing the unredacted special counsel report, with Mr. Nadler saying afterward: “We are now in a constitutional crisis.”
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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