The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for ex-President Donald Trump’s tax records to be handed over to a congressional committee. The Supreme Court denied a request by Trump’s attorneys to stop the transmission of the tax documents. The Republican had resisted the publication of the documents through legal means for years and finally failed at the highest level.
Contrary to usual practice in the United States, real estate entrepreneur Trump did not make his tax returns public either as a presidential candidate or after moving into the White House. Critics therefore suspect that he has something to hide. Trump has always accused the Democrats of wanting to see the documents for political reasons. Democrats say they want to review whether presidential accountability changes are needed.
The court’s decision comes at an exciting time. The Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. But US media reports that there is still enough time for the committee to apply for the documents before the Republicans effectively take power in January. Therefore, the court’s decision, which appears to have been unanimous, is seen as a serious defeat for the former president.
The committee has been trying to get the paperwork since 2019, citing a 1924 law that allows the chairs of three congressional committees to ask the US Treasury Department for any taxpayer’s tax returns. The Treasury Department refused to comply with the request while Trump was still in office, and the committee subsequently went to court. Trump took up the fight on his own when the Department, under President Joe Biden, said it would turn over the documents.
Trump announced last week that he intends to run again as a Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election. The 76-year-old is currently involved in various legal disputes – among other things, because of the taking of secret government documents to his private estate after leaving the White House.
Trump reported $900 million in operating losses
In a tax fraud case against two of the former President’s companies, Trump Payroll Corporation and Trump Corporation, Donald Trump is not himself accused. As part of the proceedings, however, an accountant gave the jury an insight into the finances of the former US President. Donald Bender of Mazars USA LLP prepared Trump’s tax returns for years and helped prepare the returns for former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, according to Bloomberg news agency. As the first defense witness in the tax fraud case against the two companies, he said Donald Trump reported a combined total of about $900 million in operating losses over two years.
In the fourth week of the trial in Manhattan state court, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger cross-examined Bender if he remembered Trump reporting losses a few years from now. “Remember Donald Trump had almost $200 million in losses in 2010,” she asked. Bender agreed. And when asked if Donald Trump had nearly $700 million in losses in 2009, Bender said, “That sounds about right.”
the New York Times has previously reported that Trump has suffered business losses, but Bender’s testimony was the first public endorsement by anyone who has seen or helped prepare Trump’s tax returns.