Washington: The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for the impending release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight.
The court, without noted dissent, denied Trump’s request for an order that would have prevented the Treasury Department from turning over six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses to the House Ways and Means committee, controlled by by the Democrats.
Donald Trump has been fighting to keep his tax returns private. Credit:access point
Among recent presidents alone, Trump has refused to release his tax returns during his successful 2016 campaign or his four years in the White House, citing what he said was an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Last week, he announced that he would run again in 2024.
It is Trump’s second Supreme Court loss in as many months, and his third this year. In October, the court declined to intervene in the legal fight surrounding an FBI search of his Florida property that turned up classified documents.
In January, the court refused to block the National Archives from turning over documents to the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. Judge Clarence Thomas was the only vote in favor of Trump.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said its civil investigation uncovered evidence that Donald Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to obtain loans and tax benefits.Credit:access point
In the dispute over his tax returns, the Treasury Department had refused to provide the records during the Trump presidency. But the Biden administration said federal law was clear that the committee had the right to examine any taxpayer’s tax return, including the president’s.
The lower courts agreed that the committee has broad authority to obtain tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims that he was overreaching and only wanted the documents so they could be made public.
Chief Justice John Roberts imposed a temporary freeze on November 1 to allow the court to weigh legal questions raised by Trump’s lawyers and counter-arguments from the administration and the House of Representatives.