Treasury Secretary Mnuchin officially refuses to give Trump's tax returns to Democrats, setting up high-stakes showdown

Joe Perticone

May 7, 2019, 03:08 IST

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin officially refuses to give Trump's tax returns to Democrats, setting up high-stakes showdown

US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin listens during a conference on

Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied House Democrats' requests for President Trump's tax returns.
Mnuchin said the request for the president's tax returns "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose."
Democrats on the Ways & Means Committee will now be tasked with sending a subpoena, which could develop into a lawsuit if the Trump administration continues to defy them.
Trump has been adamant about not releasing his tax returns, which presidential candidates will traditionally do voluntarily.
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WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin informed Democrats on the House Ways & Means Committee that he would not be handing over six years of Donald Trump's tax returns on Monday as they requested, continuing the ongoing fight over the president's personal finances.

The Committee has been adamant about their legal authority to review Trump's tax returns. But administration officials have stonewalled. Now, Democrats on the committee are poised to dramatically ramp up the fight.

"In reliance on the advice of the Department of Justice, I have determined that the Committee's request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose, and pursuant to section 6103, the Department is therefore not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information," Mnuchin said in a letter.

After the Committee had originally requested the tax returns from IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in April, Mnuchin set his own deadline for May 6, taking the extra time to review with the Justice Department whether he was even legally required to hand over the returns. This move greatly angered Democrats on the Ways & Means Committee, who have repeatedly maintained they have full authority to demand tax returns from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

The committee is conducting the review for the purpose of examining the IRS process of auditing presidential tax returns. This conflicts with Trump's claim he cannot release his returns until he is done being audited.

Democrats now have several options before them, including a subpoena for the returns. So far, each request has been voluntary. If Trump administration officials decline to comply with the subpoena, a lawsuit could follow.

Mick Mulvaney, Trump's acting chief of staff, has said Democrats will "never" obtain Trump's taxes, echoing many of the president's allies who insist that because Trump broke precedent by not voluntarily releasing his returns as a presidential candidate in 2016 and still won the election, the issue is settled in the minds of the public.

Republicans on the Ways & Means Committee have argued that it is an abuse of power to expose individuals' tax returns, including the president. This is despite the fact that Republicans on the same committee revealed the private tax information of a handful of US citizens during a 2014 probe when they were in the majority.

And Trump himself, who has made a concerted effort to deny Democrats various probes into his administration and personal businesses, has repeatedly said he would not reveal his tax returns.

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