WASHINGTON – A US House committee voted Tuesday to release partially redacted tax returns from former President Donald Trump, which could lead to unwanted scrutiny for the Republican as he mounts another run for the White House.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett told CNN that the House Ways and Means Committee voted to release a summary of Trump’s tax returns between 2015 and 2021, the years in which he ran for president and served. in the White House.
Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the panel, told reporters that some of those returns were still being audited by the US Internal Revenue Service, so it was unclear how much tax Trump owed.
The material will likely be released in the coming days after sensitive information is blacked out, committee members said.
Trump, unlike previous presidential candidates, refused to make his tax returns public, as he tried to keep details of his wealth and the activities of his real estate company, The Trump Organization, secret and fought against the efforts of Democrats to have access to them.
Candidates are not required by law to make their tax returns public, but previous presidential hopefuls from both parties have done so voluntarily for several decades.
Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee have said they need to see those records to assess whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential tax returns, and to assess whether new legislation is necessary.
Another House committee on Monday called on federal prosecutors to indict Trump for causing the deadly attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Republicans are expected to dissolve or redirect that panel when they take control of the House. .
Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, declared heavy losses from his business ventures over several years to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, according to media reports and trial testimony about his finances. That allowed him to pay very little tax.
The Trump Organization was found guilty on December 6 in New York of carrying out a 15-year criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities. The company faces fines of up to $1.6 million, though Trump is not personally responsible. Trump has stated that the case is politically motivated and that the company plans to appeal.
He also faces another fraud lawsuit in New York that accuses him of artificially inflating the value of his assets.
During his presidency, he faced constant questions about conflicts of interest, as foreign dignitaries and Republican Party officials spent money at his luxury hotels.