The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for the IRS to release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a Democrat-led House committee.
The court’s decision is a major defeat for Trump, who has tried to protect the disclosure of his tax returns for years and is currently under multiple investigations.
There were no notable dissent.
Trump’s legal team has continually sought to keep his statements secret and appealed to the Supreme Court – made up of three of his nominees – after he lost in the first instance.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees the lower court that issued the order in the Trump case, temporarily suspended the subpoena Nov. 1 to give judges more time to consider the issue.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, first sought the tax returns in 2019, and the agency, under the Trump administration, initially resisted filing them.
The case moved slowly until 2021, when, under the Biden administration, the Justice Department changed its legal stance and concluded that the IRS was required to comply with the committee’s request.
A Trump-appointed judge ruled in favor of the House late last year and the US Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to reverse that ruling, most recently with the full appeals court refusing to hear the case.
The court found that the request for the documents served a legitimate legislative purpose to examine tax laws applied to a sitting president, and rejected Trump’s argument that the stated purpose was a mere pretext to hide a political calculation.
“We knew the strength of our case, stayed the course, followed counsel’s advice, and ultimately, our case was upheld by the highest court in the land,” Neal said in a statement following the ruling.
“Since the Magna Carta, the inspection principle has been maintained and today is no different. This is above policy, and the committee will now conduct the oversight we have sought over the last three and a half years.”
It was not immediately clear when the committee would receive the documents.
Source: CNN Brasil
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