A federal judge ruled Monday that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration cannot withhold information on whether the White House received confidential taxpayer information by citing certain exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted Cause of Action’s motion for a summary judgement, thus requiring TIGTA to provide documents the group requested in 2012 concerning correspondence between the IRS and the White House.
Jackson said “the existence of any records within the category of records that plaintiff seeks is not ‘confidential information’ ” under the FOIA’s Exemption Three. That exemption allows federal officials to withhold from the public documents that are specifically exempted from disclosure.
Jackson also ruled that TIGTA waived its right to claim other exemptions, including for law enforcement purposes, when it confirmed that it was investigating allegations that statements by a White House official suggested that he and possibly others had illegally received confidential tax information.
Federal law makes it illegal for government employees to disclose confidential tax return information, but the president is allowed an exception. Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code “provides that upon written request by the president, signed by him personally, the secretary [of the Treasury] shall furnish returns and return information to the president, or to such employee or employees of the White House Office as the president may designate by name in such request,” Cause of Action said in its court filings.
The nonprofit sued under the FOIA after TIGTA refused to provide any such documents, citing several exemptions under the FOIA. The Oct.9, 2012, Cause of Action FOIA was prompted by media reports in 2010 that former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee, claimed tax code violations by the Koch brothers, the Kansas-based libertarian industrialists.
Goolsbee claimed during a background briefing of White House reporters that “we have a series of entities that do not pay corporate income tax. Some of which are really giant firms, you know Koch Industries is a multibillion-dollar business.”
Cause of Action wanted to determine whether Goolsbee’s statement was based on confidential tax information about the Kochs or other individuals. The group also wanted to know whether TIGTA properly investigated the issue, as it is required by law to do whenever there are allegations of improper release of confidential tax information.
TIGTA initially said it could neither confirm nor deny an investigation but then subsequently provided the court with sealed information about the documents sought by the FOIA. Jackson said the contents of the sealed information were not a factor in her ruling.
Daniel Epstein, Cause of Action’s executive director, hailed the decision, saying “the court has ruled that the federal government cannot hide behind confidentiality laws to prevent Americans from knowing if our president has gained unauthorized access to their tax information. This is a decisive win for all Americans and for government transparency and accountability. The public already knows the president uses FOIA to shield his targeting of the press and this ruling prevents the president from using FOIA to shield his targeting of taxpayers.”
Cause of Action made the decision public Tuesday. Go here for the full text of the court’s decision. A TIGTA spokesperson declined to comment.
Mark Tapscott is executive editor of the Washington Examiner.
