DOJ says Trump’s tax returns should go to the House

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Representative Richard Neal, D-Mass., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, applauds the new ruling from the Department of Justice. Win McNamee / Getty Images Hide Caption

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Representative Richard Neal, D-Mass., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, applauds the new ruling from the Department of Justice.

Wayne McNamee / Getty Images

The Department of Justice has cleared the way for a House committee to obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns in what could be the beginning of the end of years of delays and court battles.

In a new legal opinion released Friday, the administration concluded that the House Ways and Means Committee had invoked “sufficient” legislative reasons to gain access to sensitive material, including what the committee said were “serious concerns” about how the Internal Revenue Service operates an audit program for presidents. .

The ruling’s clerk, acting assistant attorney general, Don Johnson, noted that the move amounted to reversing a 2019 memo issued by the same office at the Justice Department, which was at the time under the Trump administration.

But Johnson wrote that the former opinion “fails to give due weight to the status of Congress as an equal branch of government with legitimate information needs” to exercise its constitutional powers.

The Justice Department said the Treasury “must submit” Trump’s tax materials to House lawmakers.

But it is not at all clear that the information will become public. To emphasize, the Department of Justice has highlighted the need to protect the privacy of any taxpayer before the information is released to the entire US House of Representatives or in a public report.

Trump has argued that Democratic lawmakers want his tax returns as part of a politically motivated effort to embarrass him. The former Republican president can still launch an objection in federal court to any sharing of his tax information.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed the Justice Department’s move.

The California Democrat called Trump’s taxes a “national security” issue, adding that “the American people deserve to know the troubling realities of conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and our democracy as president.”

Added Representative Richard Neal, D-Mass., Chair of the Ways and Means Commission: “As I’ve maintained for years, the commission’s case is very strong and the law is on our side. I am pleased with the DOJ’s approval and that we can move forward.”

The House committee’s efforts are separate from the years-long battle of New York City attorneys general for Trump’s tax returns. The Manhattan District Attorney received those materials earlier this year.

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