Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing focusing on President Trump’s tax filings. In yet another display of blatant partisanship, Democrats on the subcommittee spent their time on wild speculation and baseless accusations while ignoring the fact that the returns were unethically, and likely illegally, leaked to the New York Times. Subcommittee ranking member Representative Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) issued this statement on the hearing:

“Since the day President Trump was elected, Democrats have sought to weaponize the tax code to use his private tax information against him. The hearing yesterday was just more of the same. The New York Times article alleges no illegal conduct and there is no legitimate purpose for discussing the president’s tax returns publicly. This line of attack exposed the partisan hearing for what it was: political theater leading up to a presidential election. The unethical, perhaps illegal, leaking of any American’s tax returns is a stunning breach of public trust. That doesn’t change because it happened to a sitting president. If it can happen to the president, it can happen to any American.”

Background

Protection of taxpayer privacy is a core responsibility of the Ways and Means Committee. While Democrats appear unconcerned with the public trust in our voluntary tax system, Republicans are determined to preserve it. Reps. Kelly and full committee ranking member Kevin Brady (R-Texas) sent letters to the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service demanding that both agencies open investigations into the leak to determine if federal criminal laws were broken.

The letter to Attorney General Barr can be found HERE.

The letter to Commissioner Rettig can be found HERE.