I’m glad that we’ll get to see the Trump tax returns, but this has been an awful episode.

First, the facts are now in evidence that the Committee used spurious legal justifications to get them. They may have been entitled to them under law, but hiding behind the fig leaf of double-checking IRS audit procedures was a flat-out lie. The evidence is the 30-second study that they undertook before voting to release the returns. They wanted them to release them to the public to tar him and so they did.

Second, tax returns are supposed to be private by law. The IRS leaked reams of private tax data on billionaires to Pro Publica last summer. After 18 months of “investigation,” no one has been held accountable. This harms the credibility of the IRS and sows doubts in the minds of taxpayers that the IRS and Treasury are going to be able to protect their data as required by law.

Finally, every presidential candidate in recent times, except for Trump, voluntarily released their tax returns. Trump didn’t, that was his choice. The voters elected him anyway. The fact that these are being released without his consent is deeply troubling.

Now, as the game of politics is played, we wait until January when the Republican majority exacts their revenge by obtaining and releasing the private tax returns of whomever they don’t like.