In case you missed it, yesterday, the House Ways and Means has voted to release former President Donald Trump’s 2020 tax returns.
Who Needs to See Trump’s Tax Returns? https://t.co/5vqk6uXV7E
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) December 21, 2022
The House Ways and Means committee also voted to release Trump’s tax returns yesterday, and it’s fair to ask: What is the point of that release? This whole time, [Ways and Means Chair Richard] Neal and congressional Democrats have insisted that it wasn’t a fishing expedition, and that they aimed to investigate whether the IRS handled presidential tax returns appropriately. They have their answer: The IRS wasn’t doing its duty. Mission accomplished. The details of Trump’s tax returns were never all that relevant to the question of whether the IRS was doing its job.
Are Neal and congressional Democrats contending that Trump has committed tax fraud? Then this is a matter for the IRS and federal prosecutors, not the general public. Richard Neal can’t charge Trump with a crime. You and I can’t charge Trump with a crime.
Neal insists he and other congressional Democrats are not being “punitive” or “malicious,” but the story looks simple: Trump doesn’t want his returns released and congressional Democrats want to release them — and have the power to do so.
