Trump to Fight Release of Tax Returns Says His Lawyer
Former US President, Donald Trump will fight any move by the Treasury Department to turn over his tax returns to Congress, a lawyer for Mr. Trump said Monday, days after the Justice Department directed the agency to provide the documents to a House panel.
“There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here and I object to the release of the returns not only on behalf of my client but on behalf of all future holders of the office of the president of the United States,” said Ronald Fischetti, a lawyer for Mr. Trump.
The Treasury Department told a federal judge Friday it intended to comply with the House Ways and Means Committee’s request for the documents, in light of the Justice Department’s new opinion but would give Mr. Trump a reasonable opportunity to raise objections. If the committee receives the records, it could release at least some of them to the public.
A judge asked the parties to lay out a time frame for written arguments by Wednesday. It could take months before the judge ultimately decides whether the Treasury Department must hand over the returns to Congress. That ruling could then be appealed.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Monday.
An effort to block the release would be the latest step in a legal battle that began in 2019 when the House Ways and Means Committee sought six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns and audit records from the Internal Revenue Service, arguing that the committee needed them to examine how well the IRS was auditing the president who oversees it.
The Justice Department under the Trump administration said the committee lacked a legitimate legislative purpose in seeking the documents. The Biden administration on Friday changed course, saying the panel had invoked sufficient reasons for the request. It said the earlier legal memo didn’t give enough deference to the House committee, and that the tax panel, in particular, has special access to tax information, given its role in overseeing the national tax system.
“What’s changed?” Mr. Fischetti said Monday. “This has been ongoing for years.”
Mr. Trump broke with four decades of tradition from presidents and major-party presidential candidates by not voluntarily releasing any tax returns, and has argued that Democrats seeking them were engaged in a political fishing expedition to make him look bad.
Friday’s opinion by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said even an attempt to embarrass Mr. Trump wouldn’t invalidate the committee’s request.
“Treasury should conclude that a facially valid tax committee request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose only in exceptional circumstances,” wrote Dawn Johnsen, the acting head of the office, which gives legal advice to the executive branch. Its opinions typically decide an agency’s legal position, but they aren’t binding in federal courts.
Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected] and Sadie Gurman at [email protected]
