Five things we’ve learned through the release of Trump’s tax records

The House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday voted along party lines to publicly release former President Trump’s tax returns, marking the culmination of a yearslong battle during which Trump defied tradition by keeping his finances confidential.

Following hours of debate behind closed doors, the Democratic-controlled committee approved the release of six years’ worth of Trump’s tax returns, but it could take some time before any information is made available to the public.

This was not about being punitive,” Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said after the vote Tuesday. “This was not about being malicious.”

Democrats have said they needed Trump’s records to assess an IRS program that audits presidents, while Republicans argue that rationale was a pretext for a politically motivated fishing expedition. In 2020, The New York Times reported that Trump paid “no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.” Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax return, theoretically allowing him to avoid income tax for nearly 20 years, the paper reported in 2016 (The Hill and The New York Times).

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) told CNN that the release of the documents could be delayed for “a few days” to make time for redactions of personal information, such as Social Security numbers.

“Trump claimed tens of millions of dollars in losses and credits without the type of substantiation an ordinary taxpayer would likely provide,” Doggett said in a Tuesday statement. “Donald Trump had big deductions, big credits, and big losses—but seldom a big tax bill. Many questions about foreign entanglements and conflicts remain unanswered and unknown.”

The New York Times: The release of Trump’s tax returns could herald a new era for taxpayer privacy. Revealing private documents risks a tit for tat with Republicans set to retake control of the House of Representatives.

Democratic lawmakers say the 154-page summary of the House Jan. 6, 2021, select committee’s findings — in addition to the four criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) — provide “more than enough” evidence for special counsel Jack Smith to indict Trump, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. But they acknowledge that at this point, a criminal investigation, prosecution and expected trial are likely to stretch into the 2024 election year, which will thrust the Justice Department into a political maelstrom. Democrats say Attorney General Merrick Garland will likely face criticism if he fails to act on the Jan. 6 committee’s referrals.

The Atlantic: The prosecution of Trump runs into some serious First Amendment troubles, but they are surmountable if the government takes into account his other actions on Jan. 6.