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A Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives committee released six years of former president Donald Trump's tax returns to the public on Friday in an extraordinary move days before Republicans were due to take control of the chamber.
- Donald Trump was the first president in decades to not release his taxes during his campaign
- Records show he and wife Melania Trump paid little to no income tax in several years
- A House of Representatives committee is also calling for him to face criminal charges over the Capitol riots
Release of Mr Trump's redacted returns for 2015 through 2020 caps a multi-year battle between the Republican former president and Democratic politicians that was settled only last month by the US Supreme Court.
It is the latest blow for Mr Trump, 76, who was impeached twice by the Democrat-led House only to be acquitted both times by the US Senate, and now faces multiple legal woes as he mounts a 2024 re-election bid.
Earlier this month, the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters asked federal prosecutors to charge him with four crimes including obstruction and insurrection for his role in the deadly riot.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal requested the returns in 2019, arguing Congress needed them to determine if legislation on presidential tax returns was warranted.
Republicans said the move could lead to the political weaponisation of individual tax returns.
They also warned party members who take over the panel next month would face pressure to pursue a similar path against high-profile Democrats.
Mr Trump, who took office in 2017, was the first presidential candidate in decades not to release his taxes.
He sued the committee to try to keep them private but the US High Court ruled in the committee's favour.
In a report last week, the committee outlined its findings from its examination of the documents, saying the Internal Revenue Service broke its own rules by not auditing Mr Trump for three out of four years while he was president.
Details previously released by the panel showed Mr Trump paid no income tax in 2020, his final full year in office, despite millions of dollars in earnings from his sprawling business empire.
The records show Mr Trump's income and tax liability fluctuated dramatically from 2015 through 2020, during his first presidential bid and subsequent term in office.
They show Mr Trump and his wife Melania Trump claimed large deductions and losses and paid little or no income tax in several of those years.
Democrats were on a tight timeline to find a way to handle the returns once they obtained them, given that Republicans will take control of the House on Tuesday local time after winning a slim majority in November's midterm elections.
The Democrat-controlled House passed a bill before it left on its winter recess that would mandate that the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service complete audits of presidents' tax filings within 90 days of their inaugurations.
Reuters