Former President Donald Trump
Photographer: Al Drago / Bloomberg
Photographer: Al Drago / Bloomberg
The Biden government has said it needs more time to decide whether to hand over ex-President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress.
In a lawsuit on Wednesday, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department said they were still evaluating how to respond to a subpoena from House Democrats calling for six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden gave the government more time and ordered the parties to submit a status report on March 31.
“As the transition to new leadership in both agencies is still underway, the Defendants need more time to complete this process,” said government lawyers in the process.
The lawyers for the House Democrats said any extension granted by the judge “should be limited, considering how long the Committee’s request has been blocked.”
The legal battle dates back to 2019, when the House Forms and Resources Committee sued to compel then Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to hand over tax records. Under Trump, the Justice Department fought the subpoenas issued by the committee, which filed a lawsuit.
Other lawsuits over the president’s tax records involving his accountants and bankers reached the Supreme Federal Court, which ruled that Congress could not compel disclosure, at least for the time being. These cases were returned to the lower courts to assess whether lawmakers should restrict the scope of the information they sought.
Separately, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance obtained Trump’s tax records as part of a criminal investigation into the former president’s affairs. It is not clear whether Vance will make these documents public.
In September 2020, the New York Times cited undisclosed returns when reporting that Trump had alleged chronic losses for years as a way to avoid taxes. He paid $ 750 in federal income tax in 2016 and paid no tax in 10 out of the previous 15 years, the newspaper reported.
The case is Committee on Ways and Means, US House of Representatives vs. US Department of the Treasury, 19-cv-1974, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
From the archive: How Trump’s (private) tax returns can be made public: QuickTake
(Updates with judge granting extension until March 31.)