DOJ Legal Opinion Backs Treasury Decision Not To Turn Over Trump Tax Returns
- 5 years ago
The Justice Department has backed the Treasury Secretary's decision not to turn over President Trump's tax returns.
The Justice Department's legal counsel has sided with the Treasury Department in its refusal to satisfy a Congressional request for President Trump's tax returns.
According to the opinion memo, released Friday, Congress failed to prove "a legitimate legislative purpose" for the request, adding that "the Secretary of the Treasury reasonably and correctly concluded that the Committee's asserted interest in reviewing the Internal Revenue Service's audits of presidential returns was pretextual and that its true aim was to make the President's tax returns public, which is not a legitimate legislative purpose."
The memo goes on to point out that the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Democratic Representative Richard Neal, had previously been vocal about making Trump's tax returns public. The memo suggests this pattern seemed to raise questions about the motive given in the request--in part, to study the way the "IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a President."
Trump has refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit.
"I won the 2016 Election partially based on no Tax Returns while I am under audit (which I still am), and the voters didn't care. Now the Radical Left Democrats want to again relitigate this matter. Make it a part of the 2020 Election!" Trump wrote on Twitter last month.
The Justice Department's legal counsel has sided with the Treasury Department in its refusal to satisfy a Congressional request for President Trump's tax returns.
According to the opinion memo, released Friday, Congress failed to prove "a legitimate legislative purpose" for the request, adding that "the Secretary of the Treasury reasonably and correctly concluded that the Committee's asserted interest in reviewing the Internal Revenue Service's audits of presidential returns was pretextual and that its true aim was to make the President's tax returns public, which is not a legitimate legislative purpose."
The memo goes on to point out that the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Democratic Representative Richard Neal, had previously been vocal about making Trump's tax returns public. The memo suggests this pattern seemed to raise questions about the motive given in the request--in part, to study the way the "IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a President."
Trump has refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit.
"I won the 2016 Election partially based on no Tax Returns while I am under audit (which I still am), and the voters didn't care. Now the Radical Left Democrats want to again relitigate this matter. Make it a part of the 2020 Election!" Trump wrote on Twitter last month.