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What to expect from LA's Tax Day protest
Participants seen during the Women's March on January 21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Downtown Los Angeles for the Women's March in protest after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
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Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images
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Thousands of people across the nation are expected to take to the streets on Saturday to challenge President Donald Trump's decision not to release his tax returns.
Presidential candidates have traditionally released their returns, but Trump has said an IRS audit prevents him from doing so.
More than two dozen marches have been planned in protest around the state, including one at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles.
"American people have the right to see what kind of business dealings [Trump] has in foreign countries and other things that would affect his ability to lead the country with our best interest first...rather than his own economic interests," said Delia Brown, one of the lead organizers of the L.A. march.
Kellyanne Conway, a top aide to the president, has insisted Trump will never release his tax returns. On an episode of ABC's "This Week" in January, Conway told host George Stephanopoulos that most Americans were fine without seeing Trump's tax returns.
"We litigated this all through the election," she said. "People didn't care."
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On Friday, a Facebook event for the L.A. march showed tens of thousands of registered attendees. But it's difficult to gauge how many will actually show up, Brown told KPCC: "Your guess is as good as ours."
Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Brad Sherman and county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl are expected to speak at the march about why they feel it's important for Trump to release his returns to the public.
Brown offered her own opinion on that point: "This is something that we feel strongly that the American people have the right to see. Transparency in general, accountability in general from government — public officials who are elected by us are employed by us and need to answer to us, the American people."
In L.A., the local Tax Day march starts at 11 a.m. and will feature live entertainment, including a mobile DJ, a political rapper, comedian Kristina Wong and a 13-foot "Chicken Don" doll.
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