CONGRESS/TRUMP TAXES: “President Donald Trump won’t release White House visitor logs, he refuses to hand over his tax returns, he made staffers sign non-disclosure agreements and he’s balking at congressional investigators. Yet during a Rose Garden speech on Wednesday [5-22-19], he again proclaimed himself ‘the most transparent president’ in U.S. history, adding to the reporters gathered before him, ‘I think most of you would agree.”’ It may be true that Trump reveals more of his personal thoughts and emotions than any of his predecessors. But by most other measures of presidential transparency, including the congressional oversight at issue during his White House appearance Wednesday, Trump operates behind dark-tinted windows. The end to White House visitor logs, a way for the public to see who is getting direct access to the most powerful man in America, is a break from Obama administration practice. He’s the first president in decades not to release his tax returns. No modern White House has held as few daily press briefings as Trump’s, a ritual his Pentagon and State Department have also largely phased out. And while many presidents have battled Congressional oversight requests, Trump has dismissed the queries of House Democrats as illegitimate partisan inquests.”
–Andrew Restuccia, “Trump’s ‘most transparent president’ claim looks cloudy,” Politico, May 23, 2019 6:45 pm