House Ways and Means Committee voted to release years of revised Trump tax records

House Ways and Means Committee voted to

release years of revised Trump tax records

The House Ways and Means Committee decided Tuesday to make revised copies of the federal income tax returns filed by former President Donald Trump when he was a candidate and in the office available to the public.

The Democratic-controlled committee discussed whether and how to disclose tax returns to the public for more than four hours in an executive session before the 24-16 vote along party lines.

Trump's personal income tax returns

and those of

eight Trump-related companies will be announced

• according to Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas

• the Republican who sits in the committee's top position

• who informed reporters after the vote.

• The Committee's findings would also be made public.

• Brady strongly opposed the announcement of returns.

After a three-year legal struggle to

secure tax paperwork against Trump's objections

• the committee received it last month from

• the Internal Revenue Service.

• The data covers the years from 2015 to 2020.

The documents will be used to assess how the Internal Revenue Service checks the tax returns of current presidents each year, according to the committee's chairman, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.

As a Republican presidential candidate and then as president, Trump challenged decades of political tradition by withholding his tax returns from the public.

A 2020 New York Times article claims that

the wealthy real estate mogul paid the same small amount of federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. The Times has studied Trump's tax returns for 11 of 18 years during which he paid no income tax in all.

Tuesday's vote was the latest in a series of unfortunate events for Trump, who announced last month that he would run for president in 2024 on the Republican ticket.

On Monday :

• a House select committee unanimously decided to

• send a Trump criminal complaint to the Justice Department

• investigation and possible prosecution of his efforts to

• to have the 2020 election results of Joe Biden reversed.

These efforts included persuading then Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify Electoral College lists in several states.

Neal stated that lawmakers would have two days after Tuesday's vote to provide any additional information or complaints to the committee's report on the reinstatement.

After a long process

it wasn't about punishment, it wasn't about being malicious, there were no leaks from the committee," Neal said. "We have followed the law carefully.

The Chairman of

the Committee said that the staff of

• the Committee were authorized to make technical changes to the report

• and revise sensitive personal identification data

• including social security numbers

street addresses, personal identification numbers and bank information.

Neil recommended that members of Congress share Trump's tax returns with the public while adhering to the First Amendment speech and debate paragraph.

This provision protects representatives from legal proceedings or detention for remarks made during legislative proceedings, but not necessarily political.

This provision protects representatives from legal proceedings or detention for remarks made during legislative proceedings, but not necessarily political.

Just before the hearing began at 3 p.m., a police escort handed over documents believed to be Trump's tax returns.

Ahead of Tuesday's hearing

Brady issued a warning about possible revenues disclosure.

Let me be clear, what we are concerned about is not whether the President should make his tax returns public as usual, nor about the accuracy of his tax returns, Brady told reporters.

This is something to be decided by the IRS and the taxpayer.

Our concern is that if taken

this Committee action would set a terrible precedent unleashing a dangerous new political weapon beyond the former President and eliminating decades of privacy protections for ordinary Americans that have existed since the Watergate reforms," Brady said.

When Neal :

the Committee's Chairman :

• requested access to his tax returns while he was in office.

• the Treasury Department denied that.

• he Agency claimed that the request lacked a valid legal basis.

As part of a study on how the IRS examines current presidents' tax returns each year, the committee stated that it needed returns.

After Democratic President Joe Biden took office

• the Treasury Department decided to

• change its position regarding disclosure of returns.

Trump sued to block their release, but these efforts were unsuccessful and finally rejected by the Supreme Court last month.

Less than a month before Republicans are expected to control the House of Representatives by majority, the Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday.

Congressional Republicans are expected to

block the committee's investigation into Trump's tax returns.