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The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.
Since Trump is essentially the head of the Federal Government, would he fall under this statute?
As you mentioned, FOIA requests are to access information about the Federal government. Personal tax returns are just that - personal. If you look at the link you provided they even explicitly mention several exceptions which tax returns fall under (emphasis mine):
Exemptions
The nine exemption categories that authorize government agencies to withhold information are:
- classified information for national defense or foreign policy
- internal personnel rules and practices
- information that is exempt under other laws
- trade secrets and confidential business information
- inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters that are protected by legal privileges
- personnel and medical files
- law enforcement records or information
- information concerning bank supervision
- geological and geophysical information
Tax returns are protected under law.
And if you think about it, this is a good thing. If someone could use FOIA to request Trump's personal tax returns then I can use FOIA to request your tax returns. Being the president doesn't change the your protections as an individual under the law.
No. The tax returns are not related to work, policy or actions taken by the President, as President, or during his administration. It's not government-produced information or work product. Now, his NEXT tax return? That might be a different matter, but that probably falls outside of what is governed by the FOIA. If there was an investigation where that was reviewed as evidence of or refutation of allegations that he was enriching himself, or some other review, it (tax years while President) might become part of government information the public has a right to as part of information and evidence collected as part of a formal government investigation, but, barring that, it's his personal information, and probably does not fall under FOIA.
I'll try to add more links on the specifics of the law and what is covered, later, when I'm not at work. Keep in mind, my personal slant on FOIA is that almost nothing government-related should be exempt (most "national security" exemptions are really "I think the nation would be less secure if people knew we were violating laws"), but I don't see how, even with the broadest interpretation, this could be objectively gathered under that "umbrella."
