Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Posted: 2022-11-30T21:03:02Z | Updated: 2022-12-01T00:49:25Z

The House Ways and Means Committee now has access to six years of former President Donald Trumps tax returns after a three-year battle to obtain them.

The committee won access to the material from the Treasury Department on Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trumps final appeal on Nov. 22, according to the Treasury Department.

Treasury has complied with last weeks court decision, a treasury official said.

Winning the ability to examine Trumps tax returns brings to a close a legal fight that began when Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) asked the Treasury Department in April 2019 to hand over the then-presidents tax returns under a law that allows congressional tax-writing committees to obtain tax returns for its investigations.

Trump was the first major party presidential nominee since Richard Nixon to not publicly disclose their tax returns while running for the office or while in office. Tax returns can reveal information about a taxpayers income and how much tax they paid in a given year. Trump has been accused of underpaying his taxes using some suspicious accounting .

Support Free Journalism

Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Support HuffPost

A longstanding federal law grants the U.S. president, law enforcement agencies and certain congressional committees, such as Ways and Means, the right to request anyones private tax information. Trumps attorneys claimed in court that the law was unconstitutional and that Democrats had no legitimate reason to ask for the material. No federal court agreed.

Its not clear what Democrats will do next. They control the House of Representatives only until Jan. 3, at which point Republicans take over. The Ways and Means Committee can make confidential tax information public only through a vote, but Democrats will lose control of the committee when Republicans take the House. Disclosing tax information outside of the committee process can be a felony violation.

I intend to see this through, Neal told HuffPost on Wednesday when asked if hed submit information from the returns to the full House this year.

Support Free Journalism

Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Support HuffPost

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said Democrats were in possession of the tax returns, but its unclear if Democrats have physically obtained the documents.

Support Free Journalism

Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Support HuffPost