The IRS Scandal, Day 1278: Trump's Refusal To Release His Tax Returns And The IRS Scandal

American Thinker: In Defense of Trump's Nondisclosure of His Tax Returns, by Kenneth H. Ryesky (E&Y):

There are ... considerations against disclosure, over and above the political calculus behind Trump's decision to release or not release his tax returns (and, for that matter, the tax return disclosure/nondisclosure decision of any politician for any political office). ...

Ex-IRS commissioner Fred Goldberg asserts that Trump's release of certain limited portions of his tax returns "would have no impact on any pending or future IRS audit of Trump. Zero. None." But there is no denying that the IRS has increasingly of late been sicced by politicians upon their political enemies, and it is not difficult to imagine a government official who is not directly involved in a Trump return audit (including a president or congresscritter), having seen a released copy, pressuring or otherwise inducing a cognizant IRS bureaucrat to take a closer look at one or more particular items on Trump's return (or on the return of a connected person or entity). ...

Notwithstanding (or perhaps because of) my professional standing in the taxation community, my own curiosity about Donald Trump's tax returns is probably greater than that of the average American voter. But given the demonstrated political weaponization of the IRS, perhaps Trump's refusal to play the disclosure game may better serve America's interests in the long run.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1277: Second Federal Court Rules IRS Targeted Conservative Groups, Orders IRS To Act On Tea Party Group's Tax-Exempt Application Pending Since 2012 (Nov. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1276: George Will On The 2016 Presidential Election And The IRS Scandal (Nov. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1275: The Impact Of The IRS Scandal On The Investigation Of The Clinton Foundation (Nov. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1274: Koskinen Says It Is Time To 'Move Beyond' The Scandal And Restore The IRS's Budget (Nov. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1273: Harry Reid And James Comey (Nov. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1272: Why The IRS Scandal Still Matters To Republicans And Democrats (Nov. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1271: President Obama Lied About The IRS’s Targeting Of Conservatives (Oct. 31, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1270: Why The IRS Matters This Election (Oct. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1269: The Dark Art Of Political Intimidation (Oct. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1268: Sen. Whitehouse — Republicans Are Using Koskinen Impeachment To Bring IRS To Heel On Dark Money Campaign Financing (Oct. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1267: Court Orders IRS to Give Account For Targeting Conservatives (Oct. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1266: Obama Denies Any ‘Major Scandals’ In His Administration — What About The IRS Scandal? (Oct. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1265: Treasury & IRS CIOs Receive IT Leadership Awards (Oct. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1264: Light Meet Tunnel (Oct. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1263: The Denial Of Probe Into IRS Disclosure Of Taxpayer Information Is ‘Alarming’ (Oct. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1262: Z Street Receives 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status, Seven Years After Filing Application (Oct. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1261: George Will And Donald Trump Are Wrong — Elections Are Not Rigged, And The IRS Is Not Rigging Them (Oct. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1260: Cleta Mitchell — Use Of The IRS Against Republican Critics Likely Will Persist In A Clinton Administration (Oct. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1259: George Will — Trump Is Right That Elections Are Rigged, And The IRS Is Exhibit A (Oct. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1258: Judge Orders IRS to Clear Tea Party Application Backlog Within Month (Oct. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1257 (Oct. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1256: The IRS Spent $12 Million For Microsoft Cloud-Based Email Archive That Was Incompatible With Its On-Premises Email System And Never Used (Oct. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1255 (Oct. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1254 (Oct. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1253 (Oct. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1252 (Oct. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1251: Bill O'Reilly Calls For A Special Prosecutor (Oct. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1250 (Oct. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1249 (Oct. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1248 (Oct. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1247 (Oct. 7, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1246 (Oct. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1245 (Oct. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1244 (Oct. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1243 (Oct. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1242 (Oct. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1241 (Oct. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1240 (Sept. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1239 (Sept. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1238 (Sept. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1237 (Sept. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1236 (Sept. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1235 (Sept. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1234 (Sept. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1233 (Sept. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1232 (Sept. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1231 (Sept. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1230 (Sept. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1229 (Sept. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1228 (Sept. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1227 (Sept. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1226 (Sept. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1225 (Sept. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1224 (Sept. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1223 (Sept. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1222 (Sept. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1221 (Sept. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1220 (Sept. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1219 (Sept. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1218 (Sept. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1217 (Sept. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1216 (Sept. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1215 (Sept. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1214 (Sept. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1213 (Sept. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1212 (Sept. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1211 (Sept. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1210 (Aug. 31, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1209 (Aug. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1208 (Aug. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1207 (Aug. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1206 (Aug. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1205 (Aug. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1204 (Aug. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1203 (Aug. 24, 2016) 
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1202 (Aug. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1201 (Aug. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1101-1200 (May 14, 2016 - Aug. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1001-1100 (Feb. 4, 2016 - May 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 901-1000 (Oct. 27, 2015 - Feb. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 201