House committee votes to release redacted form of Trump's taxes

On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to release some of former President Donald Trump's tax information to the public, according to The New York Times.

The 24-16 vote took place along strict party lines, with all Democrats voting to release the information and all Republicans voting against.

It remains unclear what exactly will be released by the committee. Lawmakers agreed to redact sensitive identifying information about the former president, like his Social Security Number, but it remains unclear whether what will be released to the public is the raw tax return documents with sensitive information redacted, or a summary report that highlights particular information from those returns.

"Democrats have said they needed those records to assess an I.R.S. program that audits presidents," said the report. "Republicans have insisted that rationale was a pretext for a politically motivated fishing expedition. Even before the hearing, committee Republicans made their view clear, holding a news conference in front of a bright red sign that read, 'Dangerous new political weapon.'"

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"While the public release of the documents will provide the most up-to-date information about Mr. Trump’s finances, much is already known," said the report. "The New York Times in 2020 released findings of an investigation into Mr. Trump’s tax-return data covering more than two decades. He paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years that The Times examined; he also reduced his tax bill with questionable measures, including a $72.9 million tax refund that, as of 2020, was the subject of an I.R.S. audit."

All of this comes as New York State has filed a $250 million civil suit against Trump, alleging extensive business fraud that deprived the state of tax revenue.