Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel stated in a Friday memo that the chairman of the committee “has invoked sufficient grounds for requesting former President’s taxes information” and that federal law requires “Treasury to furnish the information to this Committee.”
Dawn Johnsen signed the 39-page memo, which was made by Dawn Johnsen who was appointed by the Biden administration to act as the head of the legal counsel office.
Steven Mnuchin, the former Treasury Secretary under Trump, stated that he would not turn over tax returns to the House of Representatives because he believed they were being sought out by Democrats.
The records were sought by the committee under a federal law which states that the Internal Revenue Service “shall furnish the returns of all taxpayers to a few top lawmakers.” For an investigation into Trump’s compliance with tax law, the committee requested Trump’s taxes.
Trump’s Justice Department supported Mnuchin’s refusal, and Trump intervened to stop the materials being handed over to Congress. Trump had 72 hours to object under a January court order after the Biden administration changed the government’s position on the lawsuit.
As part of an ongoing criminal investigation, Cyrus Vance Jr., Manhattan District Attorney, has already obtained copies of Trump’s tax records for personal and business purposes. Trump attempted to stop his accountants giving the documents to him, and took the matter to the Supreme Court. Trump’s claim that he enjoyed broad immunity as president was rejected by the justices.
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, stated that lawmakers still have an interest in the tax returns. Access to the tax returns of former President Trump is an issue of national security. Pelosi stated in a statement that the American people should be able to see the facts about Trump’s troubling conflicts of interests and his undermining our security and democracy as President.
This issue began in 2016, when Trump claimed that he couldn’t release his taxes because of an IRS audit.
