US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that his department has not decided whether to comply with a demand by a key US House of Representatives Democrat to deliver US President Donald Trump’s tax returns and would not meet a Wednesday deadline to provide them.
In a letter to US House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, who asked for Trump’s returns a week ago, Mnuchin said that the US Department of the Treasury would consult with the US Department of Justice and “carefully” review the request further.
“The legal implications of this request could affect protections for all Americans against politically motivated disclosures of personal tax information, regardless of which party is in power,” Mnuchin wrote.
He said that the treasury respects lawmakers’ oversight duties and would make sure taxpayer protections would be “scrupulously observed, consistent with my statutory responsibilities” as it reviews the request.
Neal said in a statement that he “will consult with counsel and determine the appropriate response to the commissioner in the coming days.”
Under the law, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner is required to provide access to any taxpayer’s returns when directed by the chairmen of the House or US Senate tax-writing committees.
Mnuchin said that Neal’s request raised important questions of “constitutional scope of congressional investigative authority, the legitimacy of the asserted legislative purpose and the constitutional rights of American citizens.”
He quoted Capitol Hill Republicans in calling the request “Nixonian,” and said that it could set a precedent for disclosing personal tax information for political purposes.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump weighed in, telling reporters that he would not agree to release his returns while he is under audit.
“I would love to give them, but I’m not going to do it while I’m under audit,” Trump said.
The IRS says that there is no rule against subjects of an audit from publicly releasing their tax filings.
Neal asked the IRS on Wednesday last week to turn over six years of the president’s tax returns within a week.
Trump has broken with decades of presidential precedent by not voluntarily releasing his returns to the public.
Trump’s position has long been that he is under audit and therefore cannot release his returns, but in recent weeks, he has added to the argument, saying publicly and privately that Americans elected him without seeing his taxes and would do so again.
“Remember, I got elected last time — the same exact issue. Frankly, the people don’t care,” Trump said.
The president has told those close to him that the attempt to acquire his returns were an invasion of his privacy and a further example of the Democratic-led “witch hunt” — which he has called US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — meant to damage him.
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