Trump says publication of his tax returns to lead to 'horrible things'
3 Min Read
Former US President Donald Trump says if his tax returns are published, many people would face "horrible things" while it is shown how successful he is.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, September 3, 2022 (AP Photo)
If former President Donald Trump's tax returns are published, many people will be engulfed in "horrible things", the previous US leader said, noting that such an incident would also show how successful he is.
"The Radical Left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!" the former President said.
"The 'Trump' tax returns once again show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and enterprises," Trump added in a statement.
The former President has been very critical of Democrats and the US Supreme Court after it allowed the publication of his tax returns. He has stressed that those figures being released would "lead to horrible things for so many people," while deepening the divide in the United States.
Furthermore, Trump touched on a December 22 article that claimed he had been playing zero to little income tax while managing to remain a multi-billionaire.
"Wrong, just sold the Hotel for almost $400 million. Many of their other numbers are wrong too, but by even bigger proportions. But that’s OK, being wrong doesn’t matter to the Fake News!" Trump said.
The US House Ways and Means Committee released earlier on Friday Trump's tax returns for the years 2015-2020 after a protracted legal battle in which the former president sought to keep his tax information private.
The returns were initially acquired in November by the committee after Trump unusually kept them hidden when other presidents before him have kept them public over their whole presidential term. Not only did he conceal them, but he refused to release them when asked to, which exacerbated suspicions regarding foreign business transactions or that he was paying fewer taxes than the average American.
After a lengthy game of tug-of-war, the Supreme Court took over to resolve the matter, and then it all started falling down. After a three-year legal battle, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead last month for the impending delivery of Trump's tax returns to a congressional committee.
The court denied Trump's request for an order that would have prevented the Treasury Department from providing the Ways and Means Committee with six years' worth of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses.
The Joint Committee on Taxation published a 39-page report last week exposing Trump for paying little in taxes, including only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and none in 2020.
The report stated that the IRS was required to review his taxes for mandatory auditing, which no president is exempt from, but they didn't begin doing so until after the Ways and Means Committee requested information on the mandatory audits in 2019.
Back in July 2021, the Trump Organization, the family real-estate company that led former President Trump down the road to fame, was accused of running a 15-year tax evasion scheme. Allen Weisselberg, a senior Trump Organization advisor and former company CFO, pleaded guilty to all 15 charges brought against him in the case.
