House Democrats filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court seeking access to President Trump’s tax returns, accusing the Trump administration of an “extraordinary attack” on Congress in preventing the disclosure of the president’s personal financial records.
What We Know:
- Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed the lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department after months of feuding with the administration over the returns. The lawsuit was filed in D.C. District Court against Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who have denied Democrats’ demands for the returns, they are named as defendants.
- Neal is seeking the President’s tax returns using a little-known IRS provision known as 6103, which allows the Chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to request and obtain an individual’s tax information for a legitimate legislative purpose.
- The complaint states that the “refusal to produce the requested materials” has deprived the House panel of “information necessary to complete its time-limited investigation,” and goes on to say that the committee is asking the court to order the defendants “to comply with Section 6103(f) and the subpoenas by producing the requested information immediately.”
- In two other court cases, Trump has tried to stop the House Oversight Committee, the House Intelligence Committee and the House Financial Services Committee from getting his financial records from Capital One bank, Deutsche Bank and the accounting firm Mazars USA.
- All trial-level judges have sided firmly with Congress, saying the committees have broad authority to pursue investigations with these subpoenas. Trump is appealing both court decisions.
This story is developing and will be updated here.
