Trump's tax returns can be released to Congress, Justice Department says

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department can release former President Donald Trump's tax returns to Congress, the Justice Department said Friday, reversing its earlier position that lawmakers lacked a legitimate legislative purpose when they requested the documents two years ago.

Trump, who broke years of precedent by refusing to make his tax returns public, has kept his financial records from lawmakers and has accused Democrats of harassing Trump for political purposes. But a 39-page legal opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said the House Ways and Means Committee, which asked the Internal Revenue Service for Trump's tax returns in 2019, has "invoked sufficient reasons" for its request.

Friday's development, however, does not mean Trump's financial records will immediately become public. The matter is the subject of a pending lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., where Democrats sued to force the IRS to release the tax returns.

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Trump will receive a 72-hour notice before his financial records are turned over to Congress, court records show. During this time, Trump's legal team can ask U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, whom Trump appointed in 2017, for a stay to block the release of his records until the lawsuit is resolved.

Trump's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Still, the Justice Department's new position gives Democrats more ammunition as the litigation moves forward.

Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., chair of the Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers' case for seeking Trump's returns is "very strong."

"Access to former President Trump’s tax returns is a matter of national security. The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., urged McFadden to dismiss the case and allow the Treasury Department to turn over the records.

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"It is about damn time. Our committee first sought Donald Trump’s tax returns on April 3, 2019 – 849 days ago. Our request was made in full accordance with the law and pursuant to Congress’s constitutional oversight powers," Pascrell said.

The Treasury Department denied the committee's request in May 2019, after the Justice Department, under the Trump administration, advised that lawmakers' request was invalid and that they lack authority to force the president to provide the records. At that time, the Treasury Department under Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the request was "pretextual," and lawmakers simply wanted Trump's tax returns to become public.

The committee sued the Treasury Department shortly after.

Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department reversed its position, which it now says "failed to give due weight" to the committee's authority to have special access to tax information because of its role overseeing the national tax system.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen acknowledged in the memo that it's possible some lawmakers might want to embarrass Trump or to "expose for the sake of exposure," but she said those motivations don't invalidate the committee's request.

Trump has said for years that he would not release his tax returns because he was under audit, but that is not a legal requirement.

In a separate case, the former president fought all the way to the Supreme Court to keep his tax returns away from New York prosecutors who are investigating possible criminal activity at the Trump Organization and alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential race to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office gained access to Trump's records in February after the Supreme Court refused his request to block a subpoena for the documents.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's tax returns can be released to Congress, Justice Dept. says