Trump's lawyer says he will fight any move the Treasury Department makes to turn his tax returns over to House Democrats
Former President Donald Trump will fight any move the Treasury Department makes to turn his tax returns over to Congress, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
'There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here and I object to the release of the returns not only on behalf of my client but on behalf of all future holders of the office of the president of the United States,' Trump's lawyer Ronald Fischetti told the paper.
On Friday the Justice Department ordered Treasury to turn over Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which first requested them more than two years ago.
Former President Donald Trump's lawyer said Monday he will continue to fight to keep his tax returns secret after the Justice Department told the Treasury Department to release his financial records to the Democratic-controlled Congress
President Biden's Justice Department ruled there was a 'sufficient' reasons for Congress to request and receive Trump's tax returns
'The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President's tax information,' read the opinion from the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel.
Trump has long fought requests by the Democratically-controlled congressional committee to gain access to his financial information.
The opinion noted the request for Trump's taxes 'would further the Committee's principal stated objective of assessing the IRS's presidential audit program—a plainly legitimate area for congressional inquiry.'
'Treasury must furnish the information to the Committee,' it read.
Democratic Rep. Richard Neal, the chairman of the committee, first sent a request for six years of Trump's personal business tax returns Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig in April 2019.
The IRS is part of the Treasury Department.
In his request, Neal said his committee had the responsibility of ensuring elected officials complied with the nation's tax laws.
The Ways and Means committee is the tax-writing body in Congress.
Then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wouldn't turn over the tax returns because he concluded they were being sought by Democrats who control the House of Representatives for partisan reasons.
Trump also defeated congressional attempts in court.
Trump, unlike previous presidential nominees, declined to release his tax returns during the election, saying he was the subject of an IRS audit.
The decision comes more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court said that Trump's tax returns and other financial records had to be turned over to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who is conducting a separate investigation into Trump's business practices.