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.
And Congress is using that power to go after someone who is now, like you, me, and hundreds of millions of other Americans, a private citizen.
We’ve already seen Trump’s tax returns. They were leaked to the Times and there was nothing noteworthy in them.
The problem here is the precedent. Congress can just seize tax returns and release them publicly now? That’s going to be a thing?
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 21, 2022
Congress actively taking a citizens tax returns and making them public is a gross abuse of power that should concern every American.
— Will Upton (@wupton) December 21, 2022
Just Democrats using the power of the government to persecute a prominent Republican.
If you haven't realized we've ALREADY crossed the Rubicon, well……. https://t.co/FBxq4ucWjf
— Matt Cover (@MattCover) December 21, 2022
Well, if you replace “haven’t realized” with “don’t care,” you might be the Lincoln Project.
Zelensky is basically an ungrateful international welfare queen. https://t.co/WclnckMoCj
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 21, 2022
Regardless of what you think about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s desire for billions of dollars more in aid, if you’re the Lincoln Project, you don’t respond with a tweet like this one:
Your dad doesn't pay his taxes. Sit this one out, buddy. https://t.co/Zj0BDB4lVs pic.twitter.com/EeLnsjIT7s
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) December 21, 2022
Is it too much to ask that the Lincoln Project make even just a halfhearted attempt at having any shame at all?
You’re damn right, it is.
https://twitter.com/petehavel/status/1605606171095621651
Uh-oh:
https://t.co/uYZAZ0PAnQ pic.twitter.com/6uoSuB6Caz
— Josh (@JoshsBurnerAcct) December 21, 2022
Yikes.
Maybe you should sit this one out https://t.co/9wflTWup5A pic.twitter.com/6jkhDgMVp4
— Dr. Richard Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) December 21, 2022
The Lincoln Project should sit everything out. Just to be safe.
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