Former President Donald Trump fought to keep his tax records from being released while he was in office, but President Joe Biden’s administration may soon change that.
As the Washington Post reported, House Democrats had sought the now-former president’s federal tax records for years but were not successful. The Democrats have now renewed their demand, and the Biden team has not indicated whether it will drop the objections that Trump had in place and order that the documents be shared with investigators.
As the report noted, the potential battle over Trump’s taxes appeared to hint at the challenges that Biden faces as he seeks to tackle his own agenda while still dealing with the lingering effects of his predecessor. As Biden seeks to set his White House agenda, he faces the prospect of a second impeachment trial for Trump that could stall any work through the U.S. Senate.
As The Hill reported, federal district court Judge Trevor McFadden told the Treasury Department and IRS to provide Trump’s personal lawyers with three-days notice before providing his taxes to the House Ways and Means Committee.
But the report added that even officials in the Biden administration are not yet sure how they will proceed and whether the records would be turned over.
“James Gilligan, a lawyer for the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is representing Treasury and the IRS, said the department doesn’t know if the Biden administration has reached a decision yet on whether it will provide the requested tax returns to the Ways and Means Committee,” the outlet reported.
Trump’s taxes have long been an area of interest and a target for his critics. As The Inquisitr noted, a bombshell report in September showed that he paid no income taxes for 10 of the 15 years before he became president, instead carrying over massive losses. The The New York Times investigation also found that he was “beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt” that he had personally guaranteed, with a large amount of it coming due soon and potentially putting his business empire at risk.
There are others seeking the financial documents, which he had fought to keep secret throughout his four years in office.
“Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has sought information from Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA for a New York investigation of Trump’s finances, after an unsuccessful challenge by Trump went all the way to the Supreme Court,” the Washington Post noted.
