Four voters from California just filed a lawsuit to block the Democrats latest assault on President Donald Trump and the U.S. democracy.
The voters along with conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch want to block the new law that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed requiring President Trump to turn over his taxes or be left off the ballot.
It’s a cheap political stunt and while President Trump won’t win in California so it doesn’t really matter, but the principle does.
The lawsuit alleges that the state of California’s new law violates the 1st and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The Federalist Papers reported that the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento on Aug. 1 by the group Judicial Watch, argues the statute is unconstitutional because it sets up illegal new rules governing who can seek the presidency.
The measure requires presidential candidates to release five years worth of tax returns in order to appear on a nominating ballot in the state of California, the most populous U.S. state. The bill passed both houses of California’s Democrat-controlled legislature and was signed into law by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom last week.
“It’s a bad law as applied to anyone, including President Trump,” said Tom Fitton, president of Washington, D.C. based Judicial Watch. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four voters registered in California – two Republicans, a Democrat and an independent.
President Trump refused to release his tax returns during the 2016 a campaign, a practice that has been followed by every presidential nominee for decades.
Last month, the Democrat-controlled Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives sued the Treasury Department to force the release of the President’s tax records. Democrats want the tax returns as part of their inquiry into possible conflicts of interest posed by President Trump’s continued ownership of his extensive business interests.
In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is also a Democrat, signed an amendment last month to a law requiring the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance to release any returns sought by the congressional committees.
