House Committee Gains Access to Multiple Trump Tax Returns
(ConservativeHub.com) – For decades, presidents have released their tax returns to the American people as a symbol of transparency, hoping to build trust with their voters and constituents. However, President Donald Trump broke this tradition while repeatedly emphasizing he had nothing to hide. Many Democratic lawmakers fought for years to get their hands on the documents without success. Now, just before they lose their majority in the House, members of the Ways and Means Committee received access to the records.
How Long Have Lawmakers Been Trying to Obtain These Returns?
In 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee began its efforts to obtain then-President Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department. But, the executive department refused to hand them over. Once President Joe Biden took office, the committee renewed its efforts, and eventually, the Justice Department agreed there was enough evidence for the House committee to receive them. However, Trump sought to block the release of the records again and again, and the case wove through the courts until the nation’s High Court intervened.
SCOTUS Allows House Access
On Tuesday, November 22, the US Supreme Court chose not to stop the US Treasury from giving the House committee six years of Trump’s tax returns. The documents should reveal a wealth of knowledge about the Trump Organization, which is already under investigation by prosecutors in New York. In response, the former president posted on Truth Social that SCOTUS “has lost its honor, prestige, and standing, & has become nothing more than a political body.”
After the ruling, the US Treasury Department announced it followed through with the order, meaning House Representatives now possess the records in hand.
House Committee Obtains Access to Trump’s Tax Returns, Ending Long Fight @charlie_savage https://t.co/rMFJQSe9Jl
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) December 1, 2022
House Committee Dives into the Paperwork
The House Ways and Means Committee, led by Richard Neal (D-MA), is now using the 2015-2020 returns to see whether the former GOP leader committed tax fraud or another fiscal crime. However, the lower chamber will switch to GOP control in January, and it’s unknown whether Republican lawmakers will continue looking for missteps in Trump’s past.
By law, the IRS must audit the sitting president’s tax returns annually, meaning the agency scrutinized his records multiple times in recent years. Additionally, according to CNBC, it’s illegal for federal employees to release tax returns that aren’t their own to the public, so Americans must trust any report the committee produces for information about them.
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