The Corker Bribe "The Big Pay Off"

Sen. Bob Corker raised fresh questions about the GOP tax bill, throwing Tuesday's voting in doubt after critics said he and other lawmakers - and President Donald Trump - would personally benefit from a provision giving breaks for real estate holdings. The Tennessee Republican had endorsed the bill last week in a crucial turnaround that provided momentum as GOP leaders try to ensure passage with their slim 52-48 majority. Their numbers narrowed as Sen. John McCain returned home to Arizona over the weekend as he battles brain cancer. But after weekend reports that wealthy real estate developers like Corker would benefit from tax treatment in the final bill, the senator faced intense backlash and accusations, which he denied, that he traded his vote. Corker - who gave his support without having read the entire bill - said he was unaware of the provision. It had been part of the House GOP bill, he said, and was included in the final version merged with the Senate. "Beginning on page 25, line 3, there is a policy related to pass-through businesses and what is known as the alternative limitation on the deduction amount," Corker wrote Sunday in a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Finance Committee. "Because this issue has raised concerns, I would ask that that you provide an explanation of the evolution of this provision and how it made it into the final conference report. I think that because of many sensitivities, clarity on this issue is very important and hope that you will respond in an expeditious manner." Hatch responded in a letter Monday that he was "disgusted" with reports that "distorted" the bill-writing process, denying the provision was jammed into the final bill at the last minute. "It takes a great deal of imagination – and likely no small amount of partisanship – to argue that a provision that has been public for over a month, debated on the floor of the House of Representatives, included in a House-passed bill, and identified by (the Joint Committee on Taxation) as an issue requiring a compromise between conferees is somehow a covert and last-minute addition to the conference report," Hatch wrote. Visit Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com FBI warned Trump in 2016 Russians would try to infiltrate his campaign