CNN
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The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss the contents of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
The high-stakes meeting, which is expected to take place in closed session, will be the first opportunity for members of the powerful committee to openly discuss and make a decision on what personal tax information to disclose, if any, about the former president.
The meeting is crucial for Democrats on the committee, who are running out of time to decide what to do with Trump’s taxes before Republicans take control of the House majority on Jan. 3 and Democrats lose control of the committee.
It is not yet clear what action the committee will decide to take regarding the returns. But Tuesday’s meeting marks an important moment in Democrats’ fight for returns, as it would be the likely meeting where lawmakers vote on what information to release about the former president’s taxes.
Tuesday’s meeting comes after Democrats won a years-long court battle to obtain the former president’s tax returns and supporting information.
The information in the returns could be a treasure trove of financial information about the former president who has already declared his intention to run for president again in 2024. The information could provide additional insight into the investments and financial entanglements of Trump and provide answers on Trump’s staff. the wealth and success of various businesses.
However, it remains unclear what information – if any – the committee will officially release to the public.
Unlike his predecessors, Trump never made his tax returns public during the campaign trail or while in office. In 2020, The New York Times revealed that it had obtained years of tax returns from Trump and reported that using tax law, the former president paid no federal income tax for 10 of 15 years from 2000 reporting major losses.
Republicans blasted the Democrats’ efforts as a political pursuit, but Democrats on the committee, including House Ways and Means Speaker Richard Neal, argued they needed to get the information to figure out how the automatic tax audit of presidents by the IRS worked and whether legislation was necessary to protect its integrity. When a new president is elected, the IRS is supposed to automatically review the statements of the president and vice president.
Neal’s request for Trump’s tax returns spanned six years from 2013 to 2018 and included requests not only for Trump’s personal returns, but also for his business entities and any administrative files that accompanied the returns. .
