House Democrats who recently gained access to some of former President Donald Trump's federal tax filings are wrestling with how to use the data before incoming GOP leaders shut down the budding investigation next month.
The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, met with Democratic tax writers on Thursday to discuss strategy.
In addition to running short on time to comb through several years of the former president's finances, Neal and whoever he taps to actually peruse the US Treasury documents must be aware of disclosure laws designed to keep tax records confidential.
Ahead of Neal's group-wide meeting, Bill Pascrell said he wanted them all released. The New Jersey Democrat said that any probe would be about accountability for all.
Whether or not we affirm that there is no one in this country who is above the law is up to us. We intend to follow through on this.
—Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) December 1, 2022
Lloyd Doggett, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said after leaving the Thursday meeting that the sprint through Trump's taxes could show us that we need to take further action.
The Texas Democrat told Punchbowl News that releasing those to the public is not included. It would be hard for even the most skilled agent to review these documents thoroughly.
The put-it-all-out-there push makes things more complicated for Neal, who has so far shied away from acknowledging even looking at the Trump-related trove.
Neal promised to "conduct the oversight that we've sought for the last three and a half years" after the Supreme Court decision affirming the committee's right to review tax returns.
The managing director of the Federal Policy Group, a lobbying firm, warned lawmakers about overstepping bounds when dealing with presidential tax records.
The law that bars unauthorized disclosure of private tax information was cited by Kies in early 2019. The consequences include thousands of dollars in fines and jail time.
One of the Republicans vying to lead the tax writing panel next year, Rep. Vern Buchanan, railed against Neal's development but refused to say what he could do to contain it.
Buchanan wrote that the Democrats' pursuit of President Trump's tax returns was nothing more than a partisan attack against his political opponent. It's easy for everyday Americans to be targeted for their political or personal beliefs if the IRS is used as a political tool.
The twice-impeached president recently announced that he's running again in four years.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and retiring Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady did not respond to questions about plans to shield the Trump tax returns from public view. McCarthy's aide said that Democrats are required to preserve records.
Dan Kildee is a member of the Ways and Means committee.
I defer to the chairman on this. Kildee said that he would see what the process looked like going forward.
Kildee said the Ways and Means Democrats would rise to the challenge.
He said that there was a time crunch with the president's stalling tactics.
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