A congressional report released earlier this month analyzed the documents and found that Trump and his wife paid no income tax in 2020
Donald Trump’s tax returns were released Friday by the House Ways and Means Committee, ending the former US president’s extensive effort to keep six years of financial documents private.
The statements – from 2015 to 2020 – were obtained by the Democratic committee only a few weeks ago after a protracted legal battle. The committee voted last week to release the tax returns, but their release was delayed to first redact sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers.
A congressional report released earlier this month analyzed the documents and showed that Trump and his wife paid no income tax in 2020, the last year he was in office. From 2015 to 2020, Donald and Melania Trump had several years in which they reported zero income and little or no taxable income. The report also found that the Internal Revenue Service failed to conduct mandatory audits of Trump during his first two years in office.
In 2016, Trump became the first major political party presidential candidate in four decades to refuse to release his tax returns. In 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee, which has the legal authority to see federal taxpayer returns, requested the documents from the Treasury Department. The Trump administration refused to provide them, setting off a three-year court battle. But in November, the US Supreme Court ruled that the commission could have access.
Trump and his legal team have consistently tried to keep his statements secret, arguing that Congress had never exercised its legislative powers to require a president’s tax returns, which Trump said could have far-reaching implications.
The disclosure comes as Trump, who is running for president in 2024, is under scrutiny over his business practices. Earlier this month, a New York jury found the Trump family’s company guilty of tax fraud, dealing a heavy blow to both the company and the former president himself.
Trump’s reaction
Trump, for his part, released a video responding to the decision to release his tax returns, calling the move an “egregious abuse of power” and “totally unconstitutional.”
“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,” Trump said. “This is nothing more than another deranged political witch hunt that has been going on since the day I got off an escalator from Trump Tower.”
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
