After the Supreme Court refused to block former Republican President Donald Trump's tax returns from Congress, he lashed out at the right-wing majority he installed, calling them "nothing more than a political body."
Trump publicized his criticisms of the Court in a post on his troubled social media platform Truth Social, saying that their decision that he hand over his tax returns "creates a terrible precedent for future Presidents."
Trump's complaints indicated that he expected the Court to shield him, banking on the premise that his moves while in office to secure a conservative majority on the Court—checking off a crucial item on the Republican wishlist—would render him effectively immune from accountability.
He went on to use his post as an opportunity to share more conspiracy theories about an alleged business relationship between Democratic President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well as about the integrity of the 2020 general election, which he lost decisively to Biden.
You can see Trump's post below.
Trump wrote the following message:
"Why would anybody be surprised that the Supreme Court has ruled against me, they always do! It is unprecedented to be handing over Taz Returns, [and] it creates terrible precedent for future Presidents."
"Has Joe Biden paid taxes on all of the money he made illegally from Hunter and beyond. [sic]"
"The Supreme Court has lost its honor, prestige, and standing, [and] has become nothing more than a political body, with our Country paying the price."
"They refused to even look at the Election Hoax of 2020. Shame on them!"
The Supreme Court's order officially allows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to release Trump's tax returns to a Democratic-led House committee.
For years, Trump resisted releasing his tax returns and even ordered his administration not to comply with House Democrats' requests. Trump initially claimed that he could not release his tax returns because he was under audit but IRS regulations do not prevent someone from releasing their returns while under audit.
The order—which noted no dissents—is the final say on a multiyear legal battle between Trump and the House Ways and Means Committee, which first sought Trump's tax returns in 2019 as part of a wider investigation into how the IRS conducts its routine presidential audits.
The development constitutes a major loss for Trump, who for the last couple of years has continued to rail against the Supreme Court for rejecting efforts by Trump and his Republican backers to overturn President Biden's election win.
Many have criticized Trump's post, suggesting that his belief that the Court is indebted to him offers yet another example of his entitlement.
Although there is currently no law on the books requiring a sitting President to release their tax filings, doing so is usually seen as beneficial to their image. Every President from Richard Nixon onward—with the exception of Gerald Ford, who released a tax summary—has released their tax returns to the public.
President Biden's administration has continued to respect presidential norms and earlier this year, he and his wife, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, voluntarily released their 2021 federal income tax returns.
Trump's evasiveness about releasing his tax returns only fueled interest in their contents, and a team of New York Times reporters later secured a copy of his 2017 return, which showed he'd paid just $750 in federal taxes in both 2016 and 2017.
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