Source: The Intercept
by Shawn Musgrave
“As the Trump administration vows to crack down on leakers, Republicans in Congress want to hand the Justice Department even more power to punish one extremely specific type of leak: unauthorized disclosures of tax records, which in recent years have exposed the creative accounting of the Trump family and wealthy allies like Elon Musk. A provision tucked near the end of the GOP’s massive budget bill — at page 1,081 of the 1,082-page text circulated late Sunday — would double the maximum prison sentence for leaking tax returns to 10 years and increase possible fines from $5,000 to $250,000 per violation. … The proposal would also increase criminal penalties for those who “print or publish in any manner” leaked tax return information, although prosecutors looking to go after journalists and outlets directly would face constitutional hurdles under the Supreme Court’s First Amendment precedent.” (05/21/25)
https://theintercept.com/2025/05/21/big-beautiful-bill-republican-tax-return-leaks/