Corker, after backing reconciled tax bill, claims he wasn't aware of new provision: report

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker claimed in recent interview that he wasn't aware of a last-minute provision in the reconciled Republican tax bill that could potentially benefit him financially.

In speaking to International Business Times, the Tennessee Republican said he hadn't read the reconciled bill, just "a two-page summary."

IBT reported that Corker, the lone Republican to oppose the original Senate version of the $1.4 trillion bill -- which the Senate approved Dec. 2 -- had reached out to address a previous IBT report claiming he decided to back the reconciled version only after a certain provision was added.

According to IBT, that provision would allow owners of large commercial real estate holdings -- such as Corker -- to deduct a percentage of their “pass through” income from their taxes.

Corker, a commercial real estate mogul who made $7 million last year from such income, vehemently denied that he reversed his position because of the added tax provision, IBT reported.  

In a phone conversation with IBT, he said he had read only a short summary of the bill and wasn’t aware the provision had been added.  

“I had like a two-page summary I went through with leadership,” Corker told IBT. “I never saw the actual text.”