GOP Pushes for Probe of Trump Tax Leak as Biden Releases Tax Returns

The Democratic candidate went public with his 2019 tax returns a few hours ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday.

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Just as the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee is pressing the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice to investigate the leak of President Donald Trump’s tax returns, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has released his 2019 tax returns.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn — the top Republican on the Oversight Subcommittee — sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice Tuesday asking them to investigate “the unauthorized disclosure” of Trump’s private tax information.

“We write to express serious concern regarding the publication of President Trump’s private tax information in the pages of the New York Times on September 27, 2020,” Brady and Kelly said in their letter to Attorney General William Barr.

The lawmakers sent the same letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

“This leak of the President’s private tax information … should be a serious concern for all Americans who do not wish to have their personal tax information weaponized against them — especially for political purposes,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is imperative that we determine whether the individual or individuals that disclosed the information committed a federal crime in doing so.”

Biden’s Disclosure

Meanwhile, several hours before the first Presidential debate Tuesday, Biden released his 2019 tax returns — which show he paid $299,346 in income taxes in 2019.

The former vice president and his wife, Jill, received a refund of $46,858 after paying $346,204 in income taxes, according to documents posted on his campaign website. He reported taxable income of $944,737, paying 31.7% of it in taxes.

The Bidens’ release of their tax returns comes two days after a New York Times report that Trump paid $750 in incomes taxes in both 2016 and 2017.