Former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax returns.
The commission requested six years of Trump’s filings as part of an investigation into the IRS audit practices of the president and vice president.
In a petition to the Supreme Court, Trump accused the commission of seeking his taxes on false pretenses.
“The purpose of the committee requesting President Trump’s tax returns has nothing to do with IRS funding or staffing issues, it’s all about making the president’s tax information available to the public.” The petition said.
A federal appeals court ruled in August that the tax returns should be turned over to a House committee. The commission first asked for a return in 2019.
Trump recently denied his request on Thursday for the DC Court of Appeals for the Circuit to reconsider a unanimous opinion from one of the three judge panels that granted access to the committee’s documents. Sometimes the request could not be blocked.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Save America rally at the Macomb County Community College Sports and Expo Center in Warren, Michigan, in this file photo taken October 1, 2022.
AFP via Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images, file
Trump’s team argues that the panel’s attempt to obtain tax returns was purely political, but the committee said these documents were used to determine how the Internal Revenue Service works. Presidential Audit.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Massachusetts Democrat, said in a post-ruling statement on Thursday, “The law has always been on our side.” , the Court has again confirmed the strength of our position. We have waited long enough, and we must begin monitoring the IRS’ mandatory presidential audit program as soon as possible.”
At the center of the dispute is federal tax law that requires the Treasury Department to “provide” tax information requested by the Ways and Means Commission, a law Trump’s lawyers suggest is unconstitutional.
Democrats have been pushing for a glimpse of Trump’s tax returns since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, breaking decades of precedent by not releasing the documents. I was.
In addition to being asked for personal tax returns, President Trump faces pressure from criminal investigations into private businesses, possession of government documents after leaving office, and efforts to block the certification of the 2020 election results. I’m here.
