On Tuesday, a federal judge decided 3-0 that House Democrats had the legal right to request Donald Trump’s tax returns.
‘The DC Court of Appeals has just declared that the law is on our side in obtaining Trump’s tax returns,’ said the official Twitter account of the House Ways and Means Committee.
‘We anticipate receiving the required tax returns and audit files as soon as possible.’
It’s a big setback for Trump’s years-long legal battle to keep his tax returns out of any investigation. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama appointed the court’s three justices.
Late last year, Trump-appointed District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered that the Treasury Department may turn over financial papers from the former president to House investigators.
Trump has argued that his tax returns are being sought for political objectives, which violates the US Constitution’s separation of powers.
Senior Judge David B. Sentelle, however, rejected such reasons in his 33-page written judgment.
The Ronald Reagan-appointed judge recommended that the committee’s demands for Trump’s tax returns in 2019 and 2021 were in line with Congress’ legislative and oversight responsibilities, citing earlier instances that shown how complicated the issue of a president’s finances is.
‘[Committee Chairman Richard Neal] has established a genuine legislative objective for which information is required. ‘At this point, it is not our place to go any farther,’ the judgment adds. Sentelle observed that Trump’s attorneys filled the court with a “deluge” of anti-Trump remarks by Democrats on the committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which they allege proves their partisanship.
However, the court stated that imagined political enmity did not invalidate Neal’s plea.
‘The mere notion that individual members of Congress may have political reasons in addition to legislative objectives is irrelevant,’ the court rules.
Since 2019, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Richard Neal has been demanding Trump’s tax returns.
Since 2019, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Richard Neal has been demanding Trump’s tax returns.
‘In fact, it is conceivable that an individual member of Congress would strive for a legislative aim without thinking about the political ramifications.’
Sentelle further said that other committee members’ political views were ‘protected by the Speech or Debate Clause’ and ‘did not affect’ the situation.
DailyMail.com contacted Trump’s spokeswoman for comment.
In the first part of 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee sued the Internal Revenue Service to acquire Trump’s tax returns, months after Democrats reclaimed control of the lower house of Congress.
In July of last year, President Joe Biden’s Justice Department overturned his predecessor’s stance on keeping the tax returns confidential.
Trump, on the other hand, is expected to challenge Tuesday’s verdict, which means the court battle might last months.
The decision comes a day after FBI investigators searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in a separate probe into the former president’s handling of confidential White House materials.
At the time, the ex-president was at Trump Tower in New York City and was alerted of the raid by his son, Eric Trump, who told Fox News that the operation was tied to the National Archives.
Trump’s tax returns were previously turned up to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as part of a separate criminal investigation in February of last year. That inquiry seemed to come to a standstill early this year under the supervision of new District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
During his first presidential campaign, Trump made the contentious choice not to reveal his tax returns, making him the only White House candidate to do so since 1976.