House panel votes to release Trump tax information; Pascrell calls it win for 'democracy'

A House committee voted Tuesday to publicly release some of Donald Trump's tax returns, despite Republican threats to retaliate against President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

It is not known exactly when the Trump tax documents will become available; lawmakers said that personal information must be redacted from the documents, and that process could take at least a couple of days.

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee said releasing the Trump tax returns is in the public interest, and part of an effort to evaluate auditing procedures at the Internal Revenue Service.

"This is not about being punitive," said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the committee chairman, after a party-line vote following a closed-door debate that lasted more than four hours.

"Today our committee voted to uphold sunlight and democracy,” said Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said in a statement. “For six long years we fought to release these documents because Americans deserve to know if their chief executive is compromised. But today’s victory is bigger than one crooked man or party. This is a triumph for idea that no one person is above the law."

Trump did not immediately comment on the committee vote.

Republicans denounced the move as a purely political precedent and said it could be used in the future to target many Americans.

“I categorically reject Republicans’ bad faith attacks on our action today," Pascrell said. "Republicans’ threats to use the tax code against their political enemies next year is repugnant.”

Neal and other lawmakers said Trump tax returns will be attached to a report to the full House regarding IRS auditing; sensitive personal information must still be redacted from the documents, including Social Security numbers and street addresses.

The panel had been seeking the returns since 2019 but only received them a few weeks ago, giving members little time to review them and draw conclusions that could influence tax legislation before Republicans take over the House in January.

Republicans had warned releasing Trump tax information could set a dangerous precedent, but Democrats have said the information is critical to congressional oversight of the IRS and its audit policies.

The decision by the Committee on Ways and Means followed a closed-door session that lasted more than four hours. Members on both sides of the aisle debated the final step in a years-long fight to obtain Trump's tax returns despite objections and legal challenges by the former president.

“More investigation is needed,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute. “There’s not a lot of substantiation” on tax losses claimed by Trump, “and not a lot of information about the IRS handling of the audits” on Trump’s returns.

Here's what's happening now:

Could release of Trump's tax returns set precedent?

House Ways and Means Committee Republicans would have authority under Congress’ oversight authority to seek President Joe Biden’s tax returns, said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

An IRS law enables federal lawmakers on congressional tax committees to seek presidential tax returns for a review of how the IRS conducts mandatory tax audits of the president. Ways and Means Democrats used the law to seek Trump’s returns. However, GOP lawmakers likely would not be authorized to cast a wide net, said Rosenthal.

“I don’t think (releasing Trump’s returns) opens the door for Republicans to ask for (presidential son) Hunter Biden’s tax returns,” he said. “Hunter Biden isn’t in the government.”

– Kevin McCoy

Republicans: This is a new weapon

Democrats rushed to microphones and social media to defend their decision to release Trump's taxes, saying the public is entitled to see financial information about the former president.

"This is bigger than one crooked man," tweeted Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-N.J. "This is a triumph for idea that no one person is above the law."

Republicans said everyone is entitled to privacy regarding their taxes, even former presidents.

Releasing Trump's tax records is also "a terrible precedent that unleashes a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond the former president," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Tex., the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.

– David Jackson 

What's in Donald Trump's tax returns?

Charles Rettig, the California-based tax law expert Trump tapped as the nation’s IRS commissioner, offered predictions in a Forbes essay he wrote in 2016, two years before his nomination.

"Teams of sophisticated tax advisers were likely engaged throughout Trump’s career to assure the absence of any ‘bombshell’ within the returns. His returns might actually be somewhat unremarkable but for the fact they are the returns of Donald Trump,” wrote Rettig.

“For wealthy individuals, individual tax returns sometimes only provide a brief financial overview linked to numerous other conclusions and entities. To fully understand the financial status of Trump, one would likely need to see returns for multiple years, the work-papers for the individual returns and the returns for numerous related entities, something that is unlikely to happen.”

– Kevin McCoy

Go deeper:

• The Supreme Court case:Supreme Court denies Donald Trump request to block release of tax returns to House panel

• Democrats get the documents: Nancy Pelosi says 'the public has a right to know' what is in Donald Trump's tax returns

• What to look for: Here's what to expect if a House panel votes to release them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House panel votes to release Trump tax information