Democrats will decide this week whether to release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns publicly after a multiyear process to obtain them.
Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee will meet in private on Tuesday to discuss the content of the returns and make a decision on what to do with them. Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) has already received the documents and granted Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) access to them ahead of the Tuesday closed-door session, according to Politico.
Uncertainty surrounds the Tuesday meeting. Democrats have made it clear that they want to make details of the returns public, but it is an open question of how much information they will put forward.
For instance, they could decide to release the returns in full, or they could release just select details with redactions from the six years’ worth of documents that were secured. The committee could also do something even more muted, such as releasing a summary of what the returns showed.
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Trump was not required under law to make his tax returns public as a presidential contender, although he shattered years of tradition when he opted not to do so voluntarily.
Democrats have been using the legal system to try and obtain the returns for more than three years. Neal had requested the documents under a law that provides the Ways and Means Committee with the authority to obtain taxpayer records.
Trump sought to block the request, but lower courts affirmed that the committee has broad authority to request tax returns. Last month, the Supreme Court, with no listed dissenters, denied Trump’s request for a temporary order that would have prevented the committee from obtaining his tax records.
“Nearly four years ago, the Ways and Means Committee set out to fulfill our legislative and oversight responsibilities, and evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s mandatory audit program,” Neal said in a statement. “As affirmed by the Supreme Court, the law was on our side, and on Tuesday, I will update the members of the committee.”
Republicans have trashed Democrats’ attempt to reveal details of Trump’s tax returns, branding the move as a political stunt that sets a bad precedent. Brady, the top Republican on the committee, said in a statement that Democrats are unleashing a “political weapon” that “jeopardizes the privacy of every American.”
“Going forward, partisans in Congress have nearly unlimited power to target political enemies by obtaining and making public their private tax returns to embarrass and destroy them. This is not limited to public officials, but can target private citizens, business and labor leaders, and Supreme Court justices,” he said.
Trump’s personal tax returns aren’t the only thing in the crosshairs of Democrats. Neal also requested tax returns from some of the former president’s business entities.
Trump has used his social media platform Truth Social to lash out against the Democratic plan to release his tax information. On Sunday, he said there isn’t much that can be learned from tax returns, adding, “but it is illegal to release them if they are not yours!”
“All of the so-called experts who think that they know so much about my very successful private company, actually know almost nothing. It is a GREAT COMPANY, with lots of cash, some of the greatest assets anywhere in the World, and very little debt. Also, strong on deductions and depreciation. You will be seeing these numbers soon, but not all from my tax returns, which show relatively little. EVERYONE will be impressed, but the Fake News Media will not be happy, so against their narrative!” Trump wrote on Sunday night.
Trump’s tax returns have made headlines in the past. In 2020, the New York Times reported, based on leaked documents from an unknown source, that Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years and only $750 in the year he was elected, 2016, and $750 again his first year in office. Trump subsequently said the report was “fake news.”
The much-anticipated meeting to decide the fate of Trump’s tax returns comes the same week as he faces other pressure from Congress.
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The Jan. 6 committee will vote this week on whether to release its final report and make criminal referrals to the Justice Department for Trump, several Trump supporters, and former staff members. Because Congress lacks the power of prosecution, the referrals would be seen as symbolic.
The Ways and Means Committee meeting about Trump’s tax returns is set for 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
