Trump’s tax returns: Appeals court denies Trump’s request for protection from House committees

Washington A full federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has struck a new blow to former President Donald Trump’s attempt to hide tax returns from House Democrats on Thursday, ending a three-judge appeal from the former president. It refused a request to reconsider the committee’s ruling.

The DC Court of Appeals for the Circuit ruled that Trump’s lawsuit against the House Ways and Means Committee should not be rehearsed. There were clearly no downvotes. at the bankor before the whole panel.

The decision paves the way for the committee to obtain financial records that Trump has repeatedly contested to defend against Congress, but his legal team could appeal to the Supreme Court.

A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment. The former president has long refused to release his tax returns.

Earlier this year, a panel of three judges from the DC Court of Appeals ruled unanimously The former president’s allegations that the commission has the right to obtain several years’ worth of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, and that multiple requests for records from the commission are unconstitutional and lack valid legislative purpose. refused.

The judge said in August, “Although Congress may threaten a sitting president with invasive demands after he resigns, all presidents know that they are subject to the same laws as all other citizens when they resign. He wrote, “This is a feature of the Democratic Republic, not a bug.”

The lawsuit originally began after Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Richard Neal demanded that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) turn over Trump’s five-year tax records in 2019. The Treasury Department, which was under Trump’s control at the time, refused to comply with the request, despite the legal process by which Congress can request certain individual tax documents from the IRS.

Lawsuits filed by Neal and the Board of Revenue followed, with the transition of presidential powers in 2021 and new requirements for filing tax documents.

Last year, a federal judge dismissed Trump’s legal battle It was the first in a series of legal losses the former president fought to hide his tax records from Congress. In the current iteration of his Shield tax records from Congress.

“A long string of Supreme Court justices must pay a great deal of respect to a ostensibly effective congressional inquiry,” Trump-appointed Judge Trevor McFadden wrote in 2021. case. ”

The legal battle with the Ways and Means Committee is not the former president’s first attempt to hide his financial records from congressional scrutiny. In 2019, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Mazars, Trump’s then-accounting firm, to turn over several years’ worth of financial documents. continuedending with a settlement reached between Trump and the Commission early this yearMazars began filing documents in September, according to . new york times.

Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.