House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said Thursday that he plans to take the Trump administration to court to enforce a subpoena and a legal request to review President Trump’s tax returns.
“I’ve always thought that’s where this was going to end up,” the Massachusetts Democrat said when asked if he planned to sue. He said that the committee was “likely to have some action on [Trump’s taxes] in a few days.”
The move was expected after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined Neal’s demand for Trump’s tax information and then declined to cooperate with a subsequent subpoena, claiming Neal’s request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.
An internal memo drafted by an IRS lawyer reportedly determined that the agency and the Treasury Department had no choice but to comply with the request, unless Trump invoked executive privilege. Asked about the memo during congressional testimony Wednesday, Mnuchin denied knowledge of it.
Separately, Neal downplayed the effect of a New York State Assembly vote Wednesday to grant Congress access to New York state tax returns upon request of the House Ways and Means committee chairman, Senate Finance Committee chairman, or the chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. The New York bill, expected to be signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, mirrors the federal law invoked by Neal in his pursuit of Trump’s personal and business returns.
Neal said that, as a federal elected official, his jurisdiction doesn’t include state tax compliance, but that the state returns could provide a fuller picture of Trump’s finances, alongside Trump’s federal returns, if his committee ultimately obtains them.
“I mean, obviously they’re traveling in the same direction, the difficulty is we don’t have control over state taxes,” said Neal. “I wouldn’t say it’s apples and oranges but I would say it’s green apples and red apples.”
Neal added that he is encouraged by recent federal rulings in court that upheld other congressional investigations into Trump’s finances for potential conflicts of interest.
“It’s based on Article I of the Constitution, it’s not based on malevolence … this is based on the idea that it’s about congressional oversight,” said Neal.
Congressional Republicans and Trump’s lawyers have argued that Neal’s request, alongside other investigations into Trump’s finances, is purely political, while Neal and congressional Democrats argue that Congress has a constitutional right to know whether Trump broke the law.
On Monday, a federal judge ruled that a subpoena of Trump’s accounting firm by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee could move forward, after Trump’s lawyers requested it be blocked. On Wednesday the committee, the accounting firm, and Trump’s attorneys jointly filed for an expedited consideration of Trump’s appeal.
[Opinion: Ohio Democrat spells it out: Voters aren’t interested in Trump’s tax returns]
