Friends, I’ve noticed that some of our over 431,000 petition supporters are feeling less than hopeful about the prospects of President Trump releasing his tax returns. When I posted my petition in January, I knew we were in for a brutal fight. Donald Trump is the least transparent and, in my opinion, the most dishonest president this nation has ever seen. From Trump’s daily stream of lies and “alternative facts” to his horrific policies to his bizarre admiration for strongmen and murderers like Putin, Duterte and Erdoğan to the ballooning list of his suspicious ties to Russia and Russian oligarchs, our president poses an unprecedented threat to our democracy. We now know that the Republican-controlled Congress will do anything to protect this erratic, unqualified man, who may have committed treason, just so they can maintain power. But, we can’t stop fighting. Giving up is not an option. Please keep a few things in mind as we move forward in our campaign: 1) The chances of Trump, himself, releasing his tax returns are zero. He’s hiding something that would likely destroy his presidency. 2) Just keeping this issue alive, with our legislators, and in the news, puts continuous pressure on Trump and Congress. 3) Where we do have leverage is with Congress. As I’ve written about before, certain Congressional committees have the power to demand the president’s tax returns from the U.S. Treasury. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees can subpoena Trump’s tax returns as they proceed with their investigations on Russian hacking of our election. Democrats have introduced federal legislation mandating that presidents and presidential candidates release their tax returns to the public. To date, the GOP has blocked all of these efforts. But that could change as we continue to make noise. 4) Republicans are banking on the belief that their constituents visiting and calling them, en masse, will get tired and disappear. That's not going to happen. Just look at the fight over Trump’s health care plan. The protestors aren’t going away and many elected official are voting against Trumpcare because they don’t want to be booted out of office by an angry mob. 5) We also have leverage with state legislators. Measures are being discussed in several states that would require all presidential candidates, who want to be on the ballot, to release their state tax returns. I’ll have more information on state bills soon. Bottom line is this. Our fight is just beginning. Obtaining Trump’s tax returns is absolutely critical to getting to the bottom of Russia’s interference in our election and Trump’s possible complicity. The returns will also tell us if Trump is trying to rip off the American public by enriching himself with his proposed tax reform plan. Since last November, we’ve all learned that our democracy is fragile – far more fragile than any of us ever imagined. You’ve all done something remarkable in signing this petition and continuing to call Congress with your demands for Trump tax transparency. Keep making those calls and sharing our petition. And, rest assured that we are in this fight for the very soul of our nation for the long haul. Here are some media links to keep you on top of the latest news: Trump Could Save Tens of Millions of Dollars in One Year Under His Proposed Tax Plan https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/28/us/politics/trump-savings-tax-plan.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news McCain: Trump should release tax returns http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/04/30/sotu-mccain-tax.cnn House GOP rebuffs bill to release Trump tax returns and visitor logs http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/330934-house-gop-rejects-bill-to-demand-trumps-tax-returns-and-visitor-logs Thank you, Nancy