Congress can seek eight years of Trump tax records after an appeals panel rejects his argument against the release and will now be heard by the US Supreme Court
- A federal appeals court rejected President Trump’s request last month to revisit a decision in support of a House of Representatives subpoena seeking his taxes
- The House Oversight Committee will now be able to seek his tax records from 2011 to 2018, giving Democrats a glimpse into Trump’s businesses and wealth
- Trump´s lawyers argued against accounting firm Mazars USA releasing the records, saying Congress was exceeding its investigative powers
- Trump attorney Jake Sekulow said the president will now take his appeal to the US Supreme Court
Congress can seek eight years of Donald Trump’s tax records, ruled a federal appeals court on Wednesday, after the president argued against the release in a fight over how far lawmakers can take their investigations.
The order was handed down by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, rejecting requests made by Trump’s lawyers last month to revisit a decision in support of a House of Representatives subponea.
Trump´s lawyers have argued against accounting firm Mazars USA releasing the records, as Democrats have inquired about his business interests and wealth.
Congress can seek eight years of Donald Trump’s tax records, ruled a federal appeals court on Wednesday, after the president’s lawyers argued against the release in a fight over how far lawmakers can take their investigations. Capitol Hill, where Congress meets, is pictured
Lawyers for President Trump (pictured) have argued against accounting firm Mazars USA releasing his taxes, as Democrats have inquired about his business interests and wealth
Trump attorney Jake Sekulow (pictured) said the president would take his appeal to the US Supreme Court after a federal appeals panel on Wednesday said Congress could seek his tax records
Trump attorney Jake Sekulow said the president would take his appeal to the US Supreme Court.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Mazars this year, saying it needed the records to determine if Trump complied with laws requiring disclosure of his assets, and to assess whether those laws needed to be changed.
The request focuses on his tax records from 2011 to 2018.
While campaigning for the presidency in 2016, Trump broke with a decades-old convention of candidates releasing their tax returns publicly.
Trump’s lawyers sued the House committee in April, arguing that its subpoena exceeded limits on Congress’s investigative power.
A complaint filed by the president’s attorneys said the true motive for the subpoena was to expose private financial information ‘with the hope that it will turn up something that Democrats can use as a political tool against the President’.
A lower court judge ruled against Trump in May, saying the documents might assist Congress in passing laws and performing other core functions.
The May decision was the first time a federal court waded into the tussle about how far Congress can go in investigating Trump and his business affairs, and marked an important victory for House Democrats.
A three-judge panel of DC circuit judges, in a 2-1 ruling, upheld the lower court judge in October.
‘Contrary to the president’s arguments, the committee possesses authority under both the house rules and the constitution to issue the subpoena, and Mazars must comply’, Judge David Tatel wrote on behalf of the majority.
Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Trump to the DC appeals court, dissented from the October decision.
Rao and another Trump appointee to the court, Gregory Katsas, voted to rehear the case, Wednesday’s order showed.
They were joined by Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George HW Bush.
Congressional lawmakers are now awaiting the tax records from accounting firm Mazars USA, unless the president’s lawyers convince members of the US Supreme Court (pictured) against the release