The decision wouldn't necessarily be Biden's to make, since the DoJ is supposed to function independently. But, Biden does have influence, through (for example) who he nominates to fill various positions. And the people he has picked don't seem to be willing to release the returns.
Which is quite right.
They need to follow the rules.
releasing someone's tax returns for partisan political reasons is not the way to do things.
If the whole purpose of obtaining the tax returns was as a fishing expedition to dig through looking for potential dirt, then you are right, its not the way to do things.
But, there are valid reasons why Trump's tax returns might be of interest:
- Multiple court cases involving Trump and emoluments (while the cases were ultimately dismissed, they were not dismissed because no problem was found, instead it was a case of standing/timing)
- Evidence from other sources suggesting Trump might have engaged in illegal activity (and thus might be compromised), such as Trump University
The fact that Trump himself is an extremely polarizing figure does not mean that any sort of investigation into his conduct is done simply because the investigators are biased. If evidence points to a crime, then it makes sense to investigate further, regardless of politics.
Wasn't there a lot of complaints when Trump's appointees were shown to be doing his bidding?
Yes, there was. And the latest involves evidence that Trump's appointees were trying to obtain information on reporters, and on the person behind a Devon Nunes parody twitter account.
The difference here though, is that in those cases of the Trump administration, there is no evidence of criminal activity behind either the reporter, or the person behind the twitter account. This is different than in the case of Trump himself, where the evidence we DO have suggests criminal activity, and the tax returns would simply allow them to dig deeper.
