CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Doggett

Interview

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BURNETT: All right, thank you very much. And now let's go to Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett who's on the House Ways and Means Committee which, of course, is requesting those returns. Congressman, good to have you with me.

LLOYD DOGGETT, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Thank you, Erin.

BURNETT: Look, this is a big move, you guys took your time and you're striking now when you think you've got what you need. What are you hoping to find?

DOGGETT: Well, after two years of Republican cover-up of these and the many motions I made in the committee and three long months in this new Congress, I'm very pleased the request has been made. We have responsibility to ensure the integrity of our tax system to evaluate what happens in tax legislation and the actions of this administration. This is long overdue.

I would have like it to be a little earlier and a little broader in scope, but I think this is a very good beginning and I salute Chairman Neal for his thoroughness and care in making this request.

BURNETT: So I want to ask you because when you say broader in scope, look, this potentially could be huge and I want to play again what the President just said to reporters and basically saying no way to you guys. He's going to fight it. Let me just play it again because there's something important in here.

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BURNETT: Look, he's saying he's being audited, but what I'm focused in here is he's surprised that you guys aren't requesting 10 or more years. We've got the information that we have learned from his taxes, a leaked return from 2005 which would be outside your range showed he paid $38 million in taxes on more than $150 million in income.

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Tax schemes to avoid paying taxes was from a massive New York Times analysis. But all of that would predate what you are asking for. Are you worried you didn't ask for enough? I mean the six years you're asking for he was always planning to run for President that time.

DOGGETT: Yes. As you know in the legislation that's passed the House For the People Act, it specifies a 10-year period and it specifies businesses where he's the principal owner. So this is more narrow both as to the number of businesses and to the length of time doesn't necessarily mean that's the last request, but I think the chairman carefully tailored this request to make it very easy for the Treasury Department to comply with this near 100-year old statute.

When Secretary Mnuchin came in front of our committee, I asked him what part of shall he needed legal advice on because the statute is explicit. It doesn't require a subpoena, it requires really a ministerial duty by the Internal Revenue Service and the Secretary.

BURNETT: OK.

DOGGETT: You mentioned the audits, Erin, this is I think an important point. We have the Richard Nixon experience, a very similar situation. The IRS at that time actually praised Nixon, but when we got the information at the Ways and Means Committee, my predecessors there, it turned out that he owed almost half a million dollars in taxes. That's when he asked the Committee to take a look to determine whether he was a crook.

He ended up having to pay more taxes. This process is a review not only of his action, but of the Internal Revenue Service to ensure they've been doing their job. BURNETT: All right, so when you mentioned complying though, the

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin obviously Trump's Treasury Secretary who oversees the IRS, so he's going to be the guy who makes the call. You did recently ask him if he would comply and I just wanted to play a quick part of his response.

DOGGETT: Right.

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BURNETT: Which was a fancy way of saying, "He's not going to do it." I mean the IRS website itself says the law, let me just quote, generally prohibits the release of tax information by an IRS employee. Do you have any expectation Mnuchin will comply?

DOGGETT: Let me say I support that law completely. That's part of the law that authorizes us to request these returns and says that they shall be provided. Yes, Mr. Mnuchin is Mr. double-talk. He's about as straightforward as our Attorney General Mr. Barr is on the Mueller report. The emphasis there was on him protecting the President. He has a statutory duty and if he does not comply, our committee needs to take further legal action.

BURNETT: So what will you do? Obviously, you've got a tight date here and I think you know they're not going to meet it. It's next week. You're not giving them much time. They're not going to do it. They're going to flaunt you. What are you going to do then?

DOGGETT: They've had plenty of time in that same hearing where I asked Mr. Mnuchin, he indicated he had some exchange in conversations with Chairman Neal about this. They've been aware of this for a long time. Now they finally have the message. It's time for them to fulfill their ministerial duty and deliver those returns and if they don't we need to take proper legal action.

BURNETT: Mr. Trump obviously can put his money through a whole lot of different ways other than his personal return, that's why he requested some business returns but he's got about 400 different companies. You request eight. Why those eight? Are you sure those are the right ones?

DOGGETT: No, I'm not. I would have preferred to request many more. He in fact has about 500 such companies in his financial disclosure form. I think what were selected were the five companies most involved in the Trump Organization plus three golf courses. It's a good beginning and it may be that in a thorough review of them, we will find a need to get to other returns.

I should also make very clear that the fact we get those returns doesn't mean we'll be broadcasting them on your program or on the front page of the New York Times. We will honor the President's privacy, review them carefully with experts before making any decision on whether they should be released to the Congress and the public. I think he's owed that, but he owes a responsibility to the American people to comply with what the law is.

BURNETT: Congressman Doggett, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

DOGGETT: Thank you.

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