The Justice Department ordered that the Treasury Department provide President Donald Trump's tax returns to House Ways and Means Committee. Although the Justice Department's decision could end the years-long dispute over the records, some fear that Trump could still make moves to stop his tax returns being released. The administration made it clear that Trump will have the opportunity to respond. The 39-page opinion, released Friday by the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), stated that the congressional committee has cited sufficient reasons to request the tax information of the former president and that the statute in question is clear. Treasury must then provide the information to the Committee.AdvertisementThis was a major reversal by the Justice Department. Previously, Trump had doubted whether the request was legitimate. The Justice Department now says the previous opinion was incorrect. The new opinion notes that the Justice Department has changed its mind and said that the April 2019 Request was not able to provide the necessary information. However, the 2019 Opinion did not give the Committee the respect due a coordinated branch of government. Richard Neal, Chairman of House Ways and Means, had requested Trump's tax returns in April 2019. He justified his request by citing a section from the tax code which allows both the Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees to request tax returns for any American.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Justice Department claimed that seeking tax returns was purely political under the Trump administration. Friday's opinion ruled that the motivations behind the request were not relevant to determining whether it should be approved. Congress is made up of elected members who are running for re-election. According to the opinion, it is not unusual or illegitimate to consider partisan or other political considerations in Congress' work. The mere existence of a political motive would not be enough to disqualify a congressional demand. This would result in Congress being denied the authority to request information, which is contrary to the Constitution.Democrats rejoiced the new opinion. It's about damn time, Rep. Bill Pascrell said. He chairs the House Ways and Means subcommittee of oversight. The first time our committee requested Donald Trump's tax returns was on April 3, 2019, 849 days before. Our request was in strict accordance with the law, pursuant to Congresss constitutional supervision powers, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the decision as a victory for rule of law.The administration stated in court that they would not give any documents to Trump until he has had a chance to respond. He still has options. It is less likely that this will drag on for a long while, but it could and it is definitely not over yet. Michael Stern, an ex-senior counsel in the House of Representatives Office of General Counsel, tells Politico.
