Tag: Trump tax returns

Justice Dept. says Trump’s tax returns should be released

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The Justice Department on Friday said the Treasury Department must turn over former President Trump’s long-sought tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee.

In a Friday memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen said that the Treasury Department was required to defer to the congressional committee.

“The statute at issue here is unambiguous: ‘Upon written request’ of the chairman of one of the three congressional tax committees, the Secretary ‘shall furnish’ the requested tax information to the Committee,” Johnsen wrote in the 39-page memo. Continue reading.

The Supreme Court undercuts Trump’s voter fraud claims — one last time

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Former president Donald Trump’s challenge to the 2020 election results has long lost its direct relevancy, now that his successor, Joe Biden, has been inaugurated. But for more than a few dead-enders in Trump’s party, the claims contained in that challenge live on. As The Washington Post’s Philip Bump wrote Monday, Republicans can’t quit Trump’s and his allies’ claims, even as they’ve watered them down and are now using them to argue for changing election laws that could otherwise hurt the GOP in the post-Trump era.

But now the Supreme Court delivered perhaps one final blow to Trump’s effort — thanks in significant part to Trump’s own nominees to the court.

As The Post’s Robert Barnes reported Monday, in addition to its key decision against Trump’s attempt to prevent a grand jury from getting access to his tax returns, it also declined to take up cases involving Trump’s and Trump allies’ challenges to the election results in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona: Continue reading.

Judge denies Trump’s request for a stay on subpoena for tax records

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A federal judge in New York on Friday denied President Trump’s request to temporarily halt a grand jury subpoena for his tax returns from taking effect.

The ruling by District Judge Victor Marrero comes a day after he dismissed Trump’s latest attempt to block a New York grand jury subpoena for eight years of Trump’s financial documents, including his personal and corporate tax returns.

Trump’s personal attorneys had asked Marrero, a Clinton appointee, to pause his Thursday decision from taking effect while Trump appealed to the New York-based federal appeals court — a request Marrero shot down Friday in a nine-page decision. Continue reading.

Two in three Americans want to see Trump’s tax returns, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two out of three Americans want to see President Donald Trump’s income taxes, and about half believe he has been withholding them for reasons that could hurt him politically, according to a Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll.

The July 13-14 poll shows many Americans remain concerned about Trump’s finances and potential conflicts of interest with his family business. The survey was conducted after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling over Trump’s financial records last week likely postponed their release to New York City prosecutors until after the Nov. 3 election.

Trump has refused to show the public his personal tax returns for years, bucking a decades-old tradition of financial transparency among presidential contenders. The businessman-turned-politician has routinely questioned the public’s interest in his taxes and said he would not release them because they are under audit. Continue reading.

Five takeaways from Supreme Court’s rulings on Trump tax returns

The Hill logoThe Supreme Court handed down a split decision Thursday that upheld a New York state prosecutor’s authority to access President Trump’s tax returns but dealt a defeat to congressional Democrats who also sought Trump’s records. 

The overlapping efforts to nab the president’s financial paper trail presented the justices with a gordian knot of intersecting legal conflicts dealing with presidential immunity, Congress’s investigative authority and the power of state prosecutors to gather evidence linked to a sitting president.

While the justices untangled some of the thorniest issues, key questions remain unanswered as the cases proceed back down to lower courts for further resolution. Continue reading.

EXCLUSIVE: Treasury IG sends report to House Dems on handling of Trump tax returns

The Hill logoThe Treasury Department’s inspector general’s office on Wednesday sent a report about the department’s handling of House Democrats’ request for President Trump‘s tax returns to key lawmakers.

Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar, who is currently the acting IG for Treasury, said in an email to The Hill that his office’s “inquiry report” was sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who requested the report, as well as the committee’s top Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

The contents of the report were not immediately known. The Hill has reached out to Neal’s and Brady’s offices. Continue reading.

Democrats cite Starr in effort to lift stay in Trump tax returns case

They noted the suit was filed more than six months ago.

House Democrats are asking a judge to end a delay in their suit seeking President Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, citing comments from Kenneth Starr, one of Trump’s defense attorneys in his impeachment trial.

In a court filing released Tuesday evening, lawyers for the House asked District Judge Trevor McFadden to allow the case to proceed, complaining, “this case has been stalled long enough.”

They noted the suit was filed more than six months ago, and expressed concern that time is running short, noting the current session of Congress ends in less than a year. Continue reading.

Trump appeals to Supreme Court to keep tax returns from NY prosecutors

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Thursday appealed to the Supreme Court, asking it to reverse a court order requiring his accountants to hand over eight years of tax returns, in a dramatic escalation of his fight to keep his financial records private.

Trump’s request comes after a federal appeals court in New York last week said Manhattan prosecutors could enforce a subpoena against Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA for his personal and corporate financial records from 2011 to 2018.

In their petition to the Supreme Court, Trump’s personal lawyers called the records request “politically motivated,” and said the subpoena should not be allowed to pierce the immunity the Constitution gives to the president.

View the complete November 14 article by John Kruzel on The Hill website here.

Judge sides with NY officials in Trump tax return lawsuit

The Hill logoA federal judge on Monday dismissed two New York officials from President Trump‘s lawsuit over his state tax returns.

Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in federal district court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the D.C.-based court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the New York officials: Attorney General Letitia James and state tax official Michael Schmidt.

“Mr. Trump bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction, but his allegations do not establish that the District of Columbia’s long-arm statute is satisfied here with respect to either Defendant,” Nichols wrote.

View the complete November 11 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.