August 2, 2019

News Alert: Gene Schaerr Featured in LA Times Article About Whether California Can Require Trump to Disclose Tax Returns

Can a California law requiring President Donald Trump to disclose his tax returns survive legal challenges? That’s the question the Los Angeles Times posed to legal experts across the country, including to Schaerr-Jaffe’s founding partner Gene Schaerr.

On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure requiring any candidate who wants to appear on the state’s presidential primary ballot to disclose their income tax returns, seemingly aimed at President Donald Trump who has refused to release his tax returns.

“Gene Schaerr, a constitutional lawyer who also practices before the Supreme Court, said federal law keeps tax returns confidential, and California cannot force a candidate to waive his or her rights under that law,” the newspaper said.

“I see it as a serious problem on both constitutional grounds and especially on policy,” Schaerr told the Los Angeles Times. “You can imagine a host of other disclosures that states might want to adopt.”

You can read the full article here.