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Former president Donald Trump has lashed out at the House Ways and Means Committee, which appears set to release his tax returns this week, accusing the group on his Truth Social official account of "illegally leaking confidential info to anyone that will listen."
After a yearslong pursuit, the committee finally obtained nearly six years' worth of the former president's federal income tax returns in November, despite Trump's effort to block their release by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to make Trump's tax returns public.
The former president appears quite sure that the committee will do so, despite his continued opposition and efforts to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the House group.
"The highly partisan Unselect Committee is illegally leaking confidential info to anyone that will listen," Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Sunday.
"Adam 'Shifty' Schiff is all over T.V. talking about Criminal Referrals, just like he was on the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, which turned out to be the con of the century. How much longer are Republicans, and American Patriots in general, going to allow this to happen," he added.
"These are the Criminals who spied on my campaign, cheated on the Election, lied to FISA Court & Congress. They are SICK!" Trump concluded.
The current Ways and Means Committee is made up of 25 Democrats and 17 Republicans, and chaired by Rep. Richard Neal from Massachusetts' 1st congressional district.
If the committee decides to make the former president's tax returns public, the records will reveal how wealthy and successful he and his company actually are, information that Trump has been carefully guarding for years despite mounting controversy.
In another post published on Truth Social late on Sunday, Trump claimed that "the so-called experts" who "think they know so much about my very successful private company actually know almost nothing."
He claims that his company has "lots of cash, some of the greatest assets anywhere in the world, and very little debt"—but admits that this won't be the picture painted by his tax returns.
"You will be seeing these numbers soon, but not all from my tax returns, which show relatively little," he said. "EVERYONE will be impressed."
Trump is currently facing a civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has accused him, his children and his company of engaging in widespread financial fraud. In a civil case such as this, instead of having to prove the suspect guilty beyond reasonable doubt, a preponderance of the evidence would be enough to hold the former president accountable for the alleged misconduct.
On Wednesday, Trump will face another potentially significant event with the expected release of the Jan. 6 Committee's report on the Capitol riot. As well as releasing transcripts of interviews with witnesses, the committee might decide to back criminal charges against the former president.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more