Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee votes to release materials on Trump’s taxes to the pub

I'm not cheering or clapping, just stating facts. I'll link the applicable facts for you once again:

https://www.lawfareblog.com/house-democrats-can-release-trumps-tax-returns-should-they

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-29/gop-says-democrats-starting-tit-for-tat-battle-by-releasing-trump-s-tax-returns?leadSource=uverify wall

"Federal tax laws permit the chairman of the congressional tax committees to request, and vote to release, the tax returns of any taxpayer, including the president."

They can legally publish the returns. However, my little bit of schadenfreude aside, just because you can do a thing doesn't mean that you should.

 

FWIW, you're quoting an opinion and claiming that it's a fact.

 

The actual law says the opposite.

 

Once again, as usual, you make a claim with nothing to back it up. I'm not playing that game again.

 

Am I?

I think these are the current members of the House and Senate Joint Committees on Taxation:

https://www.jct.gov/about-us/committee-members/

The chair is this guy:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Wyden

And according to tax law, not opinion, he can release Trump's tax returns.

 

I've posted this dozens of times, but I don't mind doing it again...

"Upon written request from the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, or the chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Secretary shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request, except that any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished to such committee only when sitting in closed executive session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure."

Now, it's your turn to post the text of the law that explicitly gives Congress the authority to do the exact opposite of what 26USC6103(f)(1) says they can't do. Not an op-ed, not someone's opinion, but the actual law. Can't wait to see it.

 

The GOP controlled both houses of Congress for Two Years and was split for the last two years. But the GOP ran on the coattails of Trump and his antics ranging from health care to JCTA to immigration, etc. Those that disagreed with Trump and the GOP who were within the GOP did so out of conscience, not hate. Keep in mind, Trump wanted a large infrastructure plan, something the Democrats wanted, but the GOP wanted something smaller and lost their cajones when Trump threatened to veto the proposed bill.

 

Again, it happened in 2014 after they investigated the IRS handling of certain nonprofit organizations. Not a single one of those organizations gave full consent to have them made public.

 

6103(f)(4) says otherwise. You are not reading the code correctly, just reading it the way you want it to read instead of what it actually says.

 

And you are not understanding what you posted. The key word here is "otherwise." The way the code reads is that in closed session, Congress can acquire the tax returns. The last part has nothing to do with whether Congress is in closed session. This is 6103(f)(1). What you need to look at is 6103(f)(4).

 

It says, "unless the taxpayer otherwise consents". Which means, that the only other release, outside of a closed session ", is if the tax paper gives written consent.

 

6103(f)(4) says the same thing...lol
6103(f)(4)Agents ofCommittees and Submission of Information to Senate or House of Representatives
6103(f)(4)(A)CommitteesDescribed in Paragraph (1)

Any committee described in paragraph (1) or the Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation shall have the authority, acting directly, or by or through such examiners or agents as the chairman of such committee or such chief of staff may designate or appoint, to inspect returns and return information at such time and in such manner as may be determined by such chairman or chief of staff. Any return or return information obtained by or on behalf of such committee pursuant to the provisions of this subsection may be submitted by the committee to the Senate or the House of Representatives, or to both. The Joint Committee on Taxation may also submit such return or return information to any other committee described in paragraph

return or return information to any other committee described in paragraph (1), except that any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished to such committee only when sitting in closed executive session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure.

 

Those organizations are obligated by law to make their tax returns available to the public. Congress could not hardly have violated any law by also releasing them to the public.

 

@Wild Bill Kelsoe (#312) and others have posted exact quotes from the law, so I won't bother. I cannot comprehend which part of the law you are having trouble with or where you believe there is a tiny loophole somewhere. Maybe it's the phrase "closed sessions." If so I can help by explaining closed session means unequivocally kept private and never disclosed to anyone outside of the people explicitly designated in the law.

 

Part of the problem seems to be that a lot of those advocating for the release of the returns are reading the statute subsection without reading it in the context of the statute as a whole. That's a common problem people unfamiliar with statutory language have.

The general cause for the statute is stated in the first subsection ad that cause is CLEARLY the preservation of taxpayer information as private. All other subsections describe exceptions to the general rule but each of those exceptions have caveats which also serve to protect as private taxpayer identity. However, if one reads only one or two clauses in a given "exception" subsection it's easy to misinterpret that as a blanket exception without caveats. It's kind of like if you tell your child that they can have a snack if they clean their room and all the kid interprets is "you can have a snack".

 

It's right there in you post.

The answer is right there in your post.

 

How does that say, even infer that "Congress can publicly release someone's tax returns without that taxpayer's permission"?

I can't WAIT to hear you explain that...lol

 

All very true. Many people simply read what they want to read and hear what they want to hear, and it is not just children by a long shot. The law itself must have been posted verbatim here on PF numerous times, yet there are still many who assert no illegality with the public disclosure.

 

Hopefully it's dishonesty and not ignorance.

 

I trust you have a good stock of survival supplies for your long wait!

 

That post was simply unbelievable...lol.