Donald Trump hoped the Supreme Court would help him keep his tax returns hidden from congressional Democrats. That’s not what happened.
Under existing law, a limited number of congressional leaders have the authority to access individual tax returns from the Treasury Department. In April 2019, Rep. Richard Neal, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, decided to exercise that power, directing officials from the Treasury Department to turn over Donald Trump’s tax records.
As longtime readers may recall, since the law was created in the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s, no administration has ever denied a lawmaker access to tax returns under this law. The Trump administration, however, balked — and touched off a lengthy legal fight.
As NBC News reported this afternoon, that fight appears to have come to an end.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s last-ditch plea to block the release of his tax records to House Democrats, paving the way for their possible disclosure to the lawmakers. The decision by the court in a brief order noting no dissenting votes means the committee can try to access the documents ahead of the Republican take-over of the House in January.
