House Democrats will likely reveal Donald Trump‘s taxes after a years-long battle over the secretive documents. The returns have remained privileged, despite the decades-long precedent that Presidential candidates voluntarily release their returns.
Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts) has had the documents since November. After a lengthy court battle to get the returns, Neal is court-sanctioned from releasing details of the records in public.
Currently, the taxes remain protected under privacy laws – releasing even the most basic tax information is a felony.
The Ways and Means Committee will vote on whether or not to release the documents. A vote in the affirmative will override the privacy laws, allowing legislators to release Trump’s tax information without breaking the law. The committee will meet on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.
House Democrats will likely release parts of the tax information; they have not said what details of the tax forms they will release.
“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.”
Since 1976, every president has voluntarily released his tax forms for every year they were in elected office. The release is intended to build public trust in government officials.
Trump was the first President to flout the long-standing tradition.
Since then, Neal has procured the tax information through a lengthy court battle. He has Trump’s personal returns and some of Trump’s business filings from 2015 through 2020.
New York State convicted The Trump Organization of tax fraud earlier this month.
Republicans have condemned the move, calling it a political stunt. Republicans on the committee have been granted access to the filings, including top GOP member, Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas).
The New York Times reported that Trump had paid no federal taxes in ten years, from 2000 to 2015. The report suggested Trump lost significantly more than he made.
