House Committee Can Get Trump’s Tax Returns, Appeals Court Rules

Topline

Donald Trump’s tax returns must be turned over to the House Ways and Means Committee, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, the latest ruling in the ex-president’s ongoing effort to shield his taxes from Democrats in Congress.

Key Facts

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a district judge’s ruling from December, which dismissed a Trump lawsuit that sought to block the Treasury Department from complying with the House committee’s request for his tax returns.

The panel of judges rejected Trump’s arguments that the lawmakers’ request exceeded their authority, and found the tax returns are being sought for a legitimate legislative purpose, as lawmakers said they needed Trump’s taxes as part of their study into the Internal Revenue Service’s Presidential Audit Program.

The judges also shot down Trump’s claims that the tax request violated his First Amendment rights and imposed a substantial burden on him and the broader office of the presidency, ruling that any burden that would be imposed on future presidents by lawmakers being able to obtain Trump’s tax returns is “tenuous at best.”

Judges were unswayed by the argument that Trump would be burdened because lawmakers could make his private financial information public, writing that while it becoming public would be “certainly inconvenient,” it would not be “to the extent that it represents an unconstitutional burden,” and the fact that some Congressional investigations expose people’s private information is “the nature of the investigative and legislative processes.”

Another more technical argument that Trump’s attorneys made, claiming the statute lawmakers were using to request the documents was unconstitutional, “misstates the test” for determining if a statute is constitutional and “misunderstands the case law supporting it,” the court ruled.

Trump’s attorney in the case, Cameron T. Norris, has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Crucial Quote

“While it is possible that Congress may attempt to threaten the sitting President with an invasive request after leaving office, every President takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same laws as all other citizens upon leaving office,” Judge David B. Sentelle wrote for the court, responding to Trump’s argument that letting the committee get his tax returns would “hinder Congress’ ‘ongoing relationship with the President.’” “This is a feature of our democratic republic, not a bug.”

What To Watch For

The Ways and Means Committee claimed Tuesday it expected to get the tax returns “immediately,” but the court’s judgement won’t actually take effect for another seven days, giving Trump time to likely appeal the court’s ruling. The ex-president can ask the full D.C. Circuit to rule on the case (rather than just a panel of a few judges), and he could also appeal it to the Supreme Court.

Tangent

The House Ways and Means Committee lawsuit is separate from another House-led lawsuit seeking Trump’s financial documents from the House Oversight Committee. That lawsuit, which concerns the committee’s request to Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA for his financial records, is still playing out in court after the Supreme Court declined to let lawmakers immediately get the documents in 2020. The D.C. Circuit ruled in that case last month, deciding that House lawmakers could obtain some, but not all, of the documents they’re requesting.

Key Background

Trump is the first president in modern U.S. history not to publicly release his tax returns, and he and his administration have spent considerable time in court trying to keep them hidden. House lawmakers on the Ways and Means Committee first sued the Treasury Department while Trump was still president, seeking his tax returns after the agency denied their request for them in 2019. The case remained pending until after President Joe Biden took office, at which point the Justice Department directed the Treasury Department and IRS to release the tax returns, nullifying the case. Trump then intervened in the lawsuit and sought to block the documents’ release, however, asking the district court in November 2021 to stop the lawmakers from getting his taxes. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden—whom Trump himself appointed—dismissed that request, calling Trump’s legal argument “wrong on the law” and ruling Supreme Court precedent “requires great deference to facially valid congressional inquiries.” Trump then appealed the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court in December.

Further Reading

Trump To Appeal After His Lawsuit To Keep Tax Returns Private Is Dismissed (Forbes)

IRS Must Hand Over Trump’s Tax Returns To Congress, Feds Say (Forbes)

Trump appeals judge’s ruling that tax records can be released by Treasury Department to Congress (Washington Post)