Tag: Steven Mnuchin

Mnuchin defends Treasury tax law implementation

Mnuchin defended his department’s regulations carrying out the 2017 tax code overhaul that added more than $100 billion in corporate tax benefits

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin found himself parrying allegations that his department’s regulations carrying out the 2017 tax code overhaul added more than $100 billion in corporate tax benefits Wednesday at his first Capitol Hill appearance defending President Donald Trump’s new budget request.

Mnuchin also took fire from Senate Finance Committee Democrats who said he favored a Republican request for documents related to Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter — a central figure in the impeachment drama that wrapped up last week — while “stonewalling” their demands for Trump’s tax returns.

Trump’s “agenda is working,” Mnuchin told panel members at the outset of the hearing on Trump’s $4.8 trillion fiscal 2021 budget request. Continue reading.

‘You’re stonewalling about stonewalling!’ Democratic senator tears into Treasury Secretary Mnuchin over his protection of Trump

AlterNet logoDemocratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon grilled Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday in a public hearing about how his department has treated requests differently when they’ve come from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

“One request is backed up by clear, statutory language in tax code section 6103 requiring the ‘shall provide’ tax documents to the committee,” Wyden said, referring to the congressional Democrats’ efforts to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns. “The other request doesn’t have the same legal basis, and certainly, to me, it looks political,” he continued, referring to Republicans’ efforts to obtain financial information related to former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

“The request from the Democratic chair, with a firm legal basis, was met with nothing but legal foot-dragging.  The request that came from the Republican chairs got VIP treatment.  They got, you know, a response out the door in a flash. So it looks to me like there’s a double standard here. And that you all are tipping the scales of congressional oversight. What am I missing Mr. Secretary?” Wyden asked. Continue reading.

Mnuchin said Thunberg needed to study economics before offering climate proposals. So we talked to an economist.

Washington Post logoSpeaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Switzerland, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was asked about calls from climate change activists such as Greta Thunberg for investors to pull their money out of fossil fuel stocks.

Mnuchin jokingly pretended to be unfamiliar with Thunberg, who even while still a teenager has become a leading global proponent of addressing the warming planet. Last year, she was Time magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

“Is she the chief economist or who is she? I’m confused,” Mnuchin said of Thunberg. He questioned her credentials to offer solutions: “After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us.” Continue reading.

Scoop: The grandees headed to Saudi Arabia’s “Davos in the Desert”

Axios logoNever mind the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi — there’s money to be made. That’s the clear message sent by the list of grandees scheduled to attend the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this month.

Axios has obtained a “Draft Narrative Program” for the conference, marked “Not Final — Subject to Change.” Any of the names on the program could therefore still pull out. Those names include heads of state, including Narendra Modi of India and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

  • The Trump administration is represented by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Former Treasury undersecretary David Malpass, now the president of the World Bank, is also on the list, as is former White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci.

View the complete October 23 article by Felix Salmon on the Axios website here.

To Conceal Trump Taxes, Mnuchin Cites Non-Existent Legal Memo

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is continuing to defy a request from Congress, first issued in April, to provide Trump’s tax returns.

On Tuesday, Justin Sok, senior adviser for Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs, insisted that Mnuchin was justified in his stonewalling because of supposed legal advice from the Department of Justice that doesn’t even exist in writing yet — and no one knows when it ever will.

“The Department of Justice intends to memorialize its advice in a published legal opinion as soon as its practicable,” Sok wrote in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. “We will provide a copy of the opinion to you when we receive it.”

View the complete May 31 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Treasury, IRS set to miss subpoena deadline on Trump tax returns

The Treasury Department and IRS are set to miss a Friday deadline to comply with subpoenas for Trump’s tax returns, setting up a prolonged legal battle.

Democrats are examining options for their next steps. But both sides agree the matter is headed to the courts.

“I think Friday is the turning point,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.). “There’s no more letters to be written.”

View the complete May 17 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.

Mnuchin tells senators under oath that he hasn’t taken ‘any direction’ from White House on blocking Trump’s tax returns

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin insisted on Wednesday that he had not taken “any direction” from the White House when deciding to buck the law and refuse to release President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress.

“This has historically been a function delegated to the IRS commissioner,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) noted. “Was there a reason you didn’t trust the IRS Commissioner to handle this? Was there a meeting between IRS and Treasury leaders directing the IRS to stand aside or stand down on this?”

“And have you discussed Chairman Neal’s request with the president or anyone in the White House? Did you get any direction on how to handle this matter from the president?” Coons asked.

View the complete May 15 article by David Edwards of Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

A day after blocking House demand for Trump’s tax returns, Mnuchin addressed gathering of his top fundraisers

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin addressed a group of top donors backing President Trump’s reelection Tuesday evening, making an unusual political appearance at a gathering that included industry executives his agency is tasked with regulating.

Mnuchin’s attendance at the kickoff event for the Trump Victory Committee came a day after he rejected a request from House Democrats for Trump’s tax returns and as the Dow Jones industrial average fell sharply amid a trade standoff between the United States and China.

Mnuchin was not listed as an official speaker at the event, held at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, according to a copy of the agenda obtained by The Washington Post.

View the complete May 7 article by Michelle Ye Here Lee, Josh Dawsey and Damian Paletta on The New York Times website here.

Dem request for Trump’s tax returns

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday formally rejected Democrats’ request for President Trump’s tax returns, setting up a likely court battle.

“I am informing you now that the Department may not lawfully fulfill the Committee’s request,” Mnuchin said in a one-page letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), adding that the request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.”

Mnuchin said he made the decision while relying on the advice of the Department of Justice (DOJ). He said DOJ plans to publish its legal opinion as soon as possible.

View the complete May 6 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.

Democrats are zeroing in on Treasury’s Mnuchin

Democrats have a new investigative target: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The leaders of three powerful House committees are requesting a trove of documents related to the Treasury Department’s decision to lift sanctions on companies tied to Oleg Deripaska, a prominent Russian oligarch linked with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Treasury lifted the sanctions on Deripaska’s United Co. Rusal and two other firms after he agreed to reduce his ownership stake below 50 percent and relinquish control of the firms, according to details of the deal released by the Treasury Department.

View the complete February 1 article by Morgan Chalfant and Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.