Chairman Richard Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee got stonewalled last week when his request for six years of Don Veto's tax returns was declined by the Secretary of the Treasury. The previously set deadline of April 10th was not met by Secretary Steven Mnuchin who told reporters his department, which supervises the IRS, was studying the request with the Justice Department because, "I feel a responsibility to get this right and that the IRS does not become weaponized like it was under the Nixon administration." Trump supporters argue the demand is simply a politically motivated attempt to embarrass or harass the President.
In a letter Saturday to the IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, Chairman Neal pointed out legal authority in which courts defer to Congress' broad authority to obtain documentation related to its legislative and oversight responsibilities. Moreover, Chairman Neal wrote, the IRS code provision upon which the request is based is unambiguous and mandatory. Neal added, "There is no valid basis on which to question the committee's legislative purpose here." Neal maintains the committee's investigation of the automatic audit policy for a president's returns justify the request. The IRS was given an extension of the previous deadline to April 23rd, and told that failure to comply by then would be considered a refusal. A legal battle over the scope of Congress' oversight authority is likely to ensue that may end up in the Supreme Court.
There is another route to obtaining Trump's tax returns. Don Veto has publicly vowed never to make them available, contrary to half a century of precedent. House Oversight & Reform Committee Chairman, Elijah Cummings said he intends to subpoena financial records in the possession of Mazars USA, an accounting firm used by the Trump Organization. Chairman Cummings cited his committee's authority to investigate allegations made public by Michael Cohen in his congressional testimony that Don Veto engaged in illegal conduct related to his finances.