A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump must give his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Donald Trump will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference on August 6.
The Trump lawsuit that sought to block the Treasury Department from complying with the House committee's request for his tax returns was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Lawmakers said they needed Trump's taxes as part of their study into the Internal Revenue Service's Presidential Audit Program and the panel of judges rejected Trump's argument that the lawmakers exceeded their authority.
The judges shot down Trump's claims that the tax request violated his First Amendment rights and imposed a substantial burden on him and the broader office of the presidency, ruling that any burden that would be imposed on future presidents byLawmakers being able to obtain Trump's tax returns is "tenuous
The argument that Trump's private financial information would be made public because it would be inconvenient was not supported by the judges.
The court ruled that the argument that the statute was unconstitutional and that the case law supporting it was incorrect.
The lawyer for Trump in the case has yet to respond to the request for comment.
While it is possible that Congress may attempt to threaten the sitting President with an intrusive request after leaving office, every President takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same laws as all other citizens after leaving office. This is not a bug.
The court's judgement won't take effect for another seven days, giving Trump time to appeal. If the ex-president wants the full D.C. Circuit to rule on the case, he can also appeal it to the supreme court.
The House Ways and Means Committee lawsuit is not related to the House Oversight Committee lawsuit. After the Supreme Court declined to let lawmakers immediately get the documents in 2020, that lawsuit is still playing out in court. The D.C. Circuit ruled that the House could get some of the documents they requested, but not all of them.
It is the first time in modern U.S. history that a president has not publicly released his taxes. The Treasury Department denied the Ways and Means Committee's request for Trump's tax returns in the middle of the year. After the Justice Department directed the Treasury Department and IRS to release the tax returns, the case was null and void. In order to stop the lawmakers from getting his taxes, Trump asked the district court to prevent the release of the documents. The request was dismissed by the U.S. District Judge who was appointed by Trump. The D.C. Circuit Court heard the appeal in December.
The lawsuit Trump filed to keep his tax returns private was dismissed.
The IRS must give Trump's tax returns to congress.
Tax records can be made public by the Treasury Department.
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