A federal court declared in a 3-0 vote on Tuesday that House Democrats are constitutionally permitted to seek Donald Trump’s tax returns.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s official Twitter account said that “the law is on our side in pursuing Trump’s tax returns” after a recent decision by the DC Court of Appeals.
“We anticipate receiving the required audit files and tax returns right now.”
It’s a significant setback for Trump’s protracted legal battle to shield his tax returns from any investigation. The three justices of the court were chosen by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Ronald Reagan.
Late last year, District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was chosen by Trump, decided that the Treasury Department may provide House investigators access to the former president’s financial records.
According to Trump, the US Constitution’s description of the division of powers was broken when his tax returns were requested for political reasons.
In his 33-page written decision, Senior Judge David B. Sentelle, however, rejected those arguments.
The judge, who was chosen by Ronald Reagan, said that the committee’s demands for Trump’s tax returns in 2019 and 2021 were in line with its legislative and oversight responsibilities.
He also cited precedent decisions that illustrated how complicated the topic of a president’s finances is.
“[Committee Chairman Richard Neal] has defined a genuine legislative goal that information is needed to achieve. It is not our place to go any farther at this time, the view claims.
Sentelle stated that Trump’s attorneys claimed that the “deluge” of anti-Trump remarks made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the committee’s Democratic members was evidence of their political objectives.
However, the court concluded that alleged political enmity did not invalidate Neal’s plea since it was legitimate.
The court’s ruling states that it is irrelevant that certain members of Congress could have political as well as legislative reasons.
In fact, it is probably uncommon for a member of Congress to strive for a legislative goal without taking the political ramifications into account.
Sentelle said that other committee members’ political remarks were “protected under the Speech or Debate Clause” and “do not affect” the situation.
DailyMail.com has requested a response from Trump’s spokesperson.
In the first part of 2019, months after Democrats regained control of the lower house of Congress, the House Ways and Means Committee filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in an effort to get Trump’s tax returns.
In July of last year, the Justice Department under President Joe Biden changed its mind about keeping the tax returns secret.
Trump, though, is probably going to appeal the decision from Tuesday, which means the court battle might go for months.
The decision on Tuesday came a day after FBI officials searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as part of a separate investigation into how the former president handled confidential White House materials.
Eric Trump, the ex-son, president’s tells Fox News that the operation was connected to the National Archives while the ex-president was in Trump Tower in New York City at the time.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had already received Trump’s tax returns in February of last year as part of a different criminal investigation.
Under the direction of the newly appointed DA Alvin Bragg, the inquiry seemed to come to an abrupt end early this year.
Trump made the contentious choice during his first presidential campaign to withhold his tax returns, making him the only candidate since 1976 to do so.