House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said Tuesday that the committee will weigh its options regarding its demand to review President Trump’s tax returns, hinting it could soon take the administration to court to force the release of the documents.
“There does not have to be an intermediary step,” Neal said.
Regarding the status of the tax returns investigation, the Massachusetts Democrat said that he would be consulting with lawyers for the committee and for the House Thursday, and that “I’ll have an answer for you by the end of the week.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied Neal’s request for Trump’s tax returns on Monday, saying that there wasn’t a legitimate purpose for the demand, setting up the possibility of a court battle.
Neal downplayed the possibility of issuing a subpoena, noting that other committees have not been successful in obtaining information from the administration that way.
And he all but ruled out a motion to hold Mnuchin in contempt of Congress, telling reporters the committee is not currently considering that.
“We’re going to talk on Thursday, but that’s not a point of conversation at the moment,” Neal said.
Citing advice from the House’s legal counsel not to comment on the ongoing investigation into Trump’s taxes, Neal declined to comment on a New York Times report Tuesday that Trump did not pay taxes in eight of the years 1985 through 1994 due to business losses, which totaled approximately $1.2 billion.
