With the Donald Trump transition team announcing new cabinet picks on a nearly daily basis, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wants to make sure those nominees disclose their tax returns.
"The only way to 'drain the swamp,' or even begin to diminish it, is to require full disclosure of tax returns for the three years preceding their nomination," Blumenthal told reporters in Hartford on Monday.
Blumenthal is asking nominees to release their tax returns voluntarily. He is also asking those congressional committees that do not require nominees to divulge tax records to make a rules change to force disclosure. Blumenthal said he's presuming the cabinet picks have nothing to hide.
Still, with many super-rich cabinet nominees, Blumenthal said Congress and the American people deserve to know of any potential conflicts of interest.
"These billionaires and millionaires have very substantial and strong investments and financial ties to special interest that ought to be fully disclosed," he said.
Blumenthal told reporters he hopes this step will encourage President-elect Trump to release his own tax returns.
