The American people deserve to see Donald Trump’s tax returns. Every other modern American President and every other major party nominee has disclosed their returns prior to Donald Trump. In light of numerous federal and state investigations of the former president’s finances, and convictions of multiple Trump Organization employees, the documents likely contain important information relevant to the public trust and must be made public.

The House Ways and Means Committee and its Chair Richard Neal deserve credit for formally requesting – and ultimately securing – these returns from the IRS after a sea of red flags arose concerning Trump’s business dealings before and after he was sworn in as president. It took nearly four years and a protracted legal fight to obtain these tax returns, but now that the Committee has obtained them, it has an obligation to make them public.

The nation expects and deserves to know the truth. Going forward, Congress must pass legislation to require that presidential candidates and those elected to the office release their tax returns to the public. Donald Trump proved that you cannot rely on tradition when it come to the tax returns. It needs to be required by law.  The House of Representatives has passed such legislation twice in the past three years and it is long overdue for the Senate to do the same.