Six years of former President Donald Trump’s personal tax returns will enter the public domain on Friday after the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines last week to release them.
Some redactions of sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers and contact information have been foreshadowed, as their unprecedented dissemination flags the last days of Democrats’ control of the House and Republicans prepare to retake power in the chamber.
The committee obtained the documents through an appeals court ruling that ordered Trump to turn them over following a years-long legal battle. The 45th president had filed a request with the Supreme Court to block the ruling, but it was denied last month, as Breitbart News reported.
Trump, the lone Republican candidate thus far in the 2024 GOP primary field, blasted the “radical Democrats” for the move, asserting it is “an outrageous abuse of power” and the documents only chronicle how successful he has been.
Documents arrive at the House Ways & Means Committee hearing regarding tax returns from former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
“There is no legitimate legislative purpose for their action, and if you look at what they’ve done, it’s so sad for our country,” he said after calling the situation “unconstitutional.”
“It’s nothing but another deranged political witch-hunt, which has been going on from the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower.”
Release of Trump’s returns for 2015 to 2020 will bookend a multi-year battle between the former Republican president and Democratic lawmakers.
Watch as Donald Trump calls on the incoming Republican-led House of Representatives to release President Joe Biden’s financial records:
Donald J. Trump for President 2024
It will not be the first time Trump’s tax returns have been under public scrutiny.
In October 2018, The New York Times published a series based on leaked tax records that showed Trump’s personal financial standing.
Republicans have argued Democrats will regret the move once they take power in January, warning the committee’s new GOP chair will be under pressure to seek and make public the tax returns of other prominent people.
