A top Justice Department official on Friday told the Treasury Department to give copies of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress.
The decision isn’t necessarily the final word, but if the Treasury Department complies, the records will almost certainly be leaked by Democrats.
For years, Trump’s enemies have sought to embarrass him by exposing the content of his tax returns.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen, of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel, wrote in a memo that the House Ways and Means Committee’s “principal stated objective of assessing the IRS’s presidential audit program” is a “plainly legitimate area for congressional inquiry and possible legislation.”
Therefore, the Treasury Department “must comply with the Ways and Means Committee’s June 16, 2021 request” for Trump’s tax returns, Johnsen wrote.
A prior 2019 opinion from the DOJ office said there was no legitimate legislative purpose for Congress to acquire the records.
Trump’s office did not immediately release a statement and it’s unclear if he will sue to halt the disclosure. Since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump has said he’s under IRS audit and therefore cannot release his tax returns.
As president, Trump filed annual public reports that detailed the income at his various businesses. His critics believe that his tax returns could show he pays a low tax rate, or perhaps show that he’s less wealthy than he says.
The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump could not stop the release of his tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney.