Trump Tax Return Sets New Precedent

The Government’s Privacy Norm is Destroyed

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported House Democrats released Donald Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020 to the public. The move, which came just four days before the Democrats lose their majority, has been met with widespread criticism for violating taxpayer privacy and having no legislative purpose. The Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Richard Neal, released the individual and business filings in what Neal has claimed is an effort to expose the Internal Revenue Service’s alleged slow-footing of mandatory audits of the former President. However, the details of the returns have not been particularly damaging to Trump, with his individual filings showing negative taxable income in four of the six years and a total liability of around $4.4 million. This reflects a rocky record in real estate and other ventures, though Trump attributed his small tax bill to “depreciation and various other tax deductions” in a statement. While the release has been seen as an attempt to embarrass Trump for refusing to release his own returns, it should be noted that this is not a legal requirement. In fact, Democrats needed a legislative purpose to justify obtaining private records from the IRS, and their best excuse was to strengthen the agency’s presidential-audit policy. However, the weakness of this rationale was highlighted at a Dec. 20 meeting when Ways and Means approved the release. Karen McAfee, Democrats’ top oversight staffer, was unable to explain how releasing the returns would impact legislation.

The release of Trump’s tax returns sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of private information by Congress and has the potential to open a new and ugly chapter in American politics. It is worth noting that the Supreme Court recently declined to block the Ways and Means Committee’s seizure of Trump’s returns, which may have set a precedent for future actions by Congress.

Overall, while the release of Trump’s tax returns may not have had a significant impact on his reputation, it has done more harm to the reputation of the House Democrats and raises concerns about the handling of private information by lawmakers. If Congress has issues with the way in which the tax code is being utilized, it would be more productive to rewrite and simplify the code rather than using the release of private information as a means of political retribution.