But the new administration, scheduled to take over on Wednesday with Biden’s inauguration, could simply hand the returns over to Democrats in Congress without Trump knowing it.
“All of this raises the possibility that a new request from the committee will be satisfied without giving notice to the intervening defendants or the opportunity to be heard about their legal objections,” say Trump’s lawyers.
They addressed the idea that the next administration will let them know if Democrats continue to pursue the lawsuits, so that they have an opportunity to challenge that in court.
This is something that Trump won in a separate court battle over a New York state law that gives Congressional Democrats access to Trump’s state returns. Although House Democrats showed little interest in that law, a federal judge agreed that Trump should have a chance to fight such a request if lawmakers changed their minds.
“A status conference would shed light on whether and how this case should proceed,” says the document.