Former United States President Donald Trump suffered another loss after a federal judge on Tuesday dismissed his lawsuit that aimed to block Congress from gaining access to the Republican businessman's tax return records.
The ruling states that the law gives a House committee chairman broad authority to request the former president's tax returns. Judge Trevor McFadden of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a 45-page opinion that the Treasury Department can give tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which could then vote to publish the documents.
Trump's Tax Returns
However, Judge McFadden stayed his ruling for 14 days to allow former President Trump enough time to file an appeal, which he said was very likely of the Republican businessman. The top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, first requested copies of the former president's tax returns in early 2019.
The chairman of the panel is given broad authority to request any person's tax returns under federal law. However, the Trump administration has refused to comply with the request, forcing the House to eventually file a lawsuit against the former president of the United States, the New York Times reported.
Judge McFadden, despite being appointed by Trump, made his decision with the new administration causing the Justice Department to change its stance on the case. In a statement, Neal said that the judge's ruling was no surprise and said that the law was definitely supportive of the committee.
Neal said that he was glad to say that the committee was now one step closer to conducting a more thorough investigation of the IRS's mandatory presidential audit program. McFadden's ruling suggested that former President Trump was "wrong on the law."
The district judge's ruling also said that even the special solicitude accorded former Presidents was not able to change the result of the case. However, the opinion also warned Neal about bringing Trump's records public despite having the authority, CNN reported.
Unprecedented Situation
In the last 40 years, former President Trump was the first U.S. leader not to release his tax returns. The move is seen to be an effort to keep secret details of his wealth and the activities and dealings of his family's company, the Trump Organization.
In 2019, the Ways and Means Committee filed a lawsuit to force disclosure of the former president's tax returns and lingers 11 months after Trump left office. Last month, Patrick Strawbridge, Trump's lawyer, told McFadden that the committee had no legitimate reason to see the tax returns and had asked for them in an attempt to politically tarnish the Republican businessman's reputation.
However, House Democrats said they needed access to Trump's tax returns to see if the IRS was properly auditing presidential returns in general. Another reason that officials used was to assess whether or not new legislation was needed.
McFadden, while saying that it was most likely not the right thing to make Trump's tax returns public, argued that the committee could accomplish its goals without publishing the documents, Yahoo News reported.
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