Republicans are slamming the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns as a “dangerous new weapon,” while Democrats dismiss their complaints as hypocrisy.
The Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines in a closed meeting Tuesday to release two reports detailing Trump’s financial activity based on IRS records to the public. The committee received the information after years of legal wrangling last month, giving Democrats very little time to conduct their investigation before they lose the House majority in January.
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The release prompted vocal protests from Republicans, who argue the disclosure could open the floodgates to other politicians’ taxes becoming public.
“I think it’s a very dangerous precedent,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, a sentiment echoed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was more explicit, saying it could be used against Democratic politicians down the road.
“I think we’re starting something that people may live to regret. So, anything they can do, we can do,” he told reporters.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a press conference Tuesday night that the decision by panel Democrats to make the IRS documents public steps over the line by targeting a private citizen. Democrats have worked for nearly four years to obtain and investigate the tax documents out of concern that Trump was involved in financial malpractice, concerns that Republicans have dismissed as politically motivated.
“It’s the power to embarrass, harass, or destroy Americans through disclosure of their tax returns,” Brady said. “After nearly half a century, the political enemies list is back in Washington, D.C., and we worry this will unleash a cycle of political retribution in Congress.”
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, said Brady’s reaction was undermined by Republicans using a similar tactic in 2014 to investigate allegations that the IRS unfairly targeted conservative nonprofit groups.
Republicans are fuming we just voted to publicly release trump’s tax returns. They’re making threats. Fact: in 2014 republicans voted to release the private tax info of 51 taxpayers as part of a sham probe. Republican lies and hypocrisy know no bounds. https://t.co/ASVvrTeDHe
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. ???? (@BillPascrell) December 21, 2022
Brady called the accusation “nonsense,” maintaining that releasing a person’s full tax returns is unprecedented.
“Democrat witnesses admit Congress has never publicly disclosed the full private tax returns of an individual. Till now,” he tweeted.
The House Judiciary Committee GOP leaned into the idea that the taxes of Democrats should now come under scrutiny, tweeting, “Let’s see @SpeakerPelosi’s tax returns.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said Wednesday that he believes the public is broadly supportive of the decision to release the tax returns.
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“I can tell you I’ve had 1,025 town meetings in my state — I go to every county every year — I don’t think you can show up at a town meeting most places and have people say, ‘No, you shouldn’t do what every major [presidential candidate] has done for 40 years.’ They’ve done it for 40 years because there is a public expectation,” he said.
The New York Times obtained some of Trump’s tax returns in 2020, which revealed strategies to avoid or reduce taxation on his many business ventures and sources of income. Trump is the only president in modern history who has not voluntarily released his tax records.
