US House committee votes to release Donald Trump’s tax returns

WASHINGTON

A US House of Representatives committee voted Tuesday to release former President Donald Trump's tax returns to the public.

The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee approved the motion on a party-line vote of 24 to 16 following hours of closed-door debate. The vote paves the way for six years of Trump's tax returns from 2015-2020 to be released to the public.

The committee sought six years of Trump's tax returns as part of its investigation into how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits presidents. Trump's attorneys have said the effort to obtain the records is a thinly-veiled attempt at abusing congressional authority that will result in the former president's documents being leaked to the public.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal said Tuesday after the vote that lawmakers will have two days to file supplemental information or objections.

“After a long process, this was not about being punitive, this was not about being malicious, and there were no leaks from the committee,” Neal said.