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WASHINGTON – A Trump attorney said Friday at the Treasury Department that Democratic House Democrats, demanding the president's tax returns, were abusing their powers to hurt him politically, and he urged the department to keep secret statements .
The letter from William Consovoy, a lawyer whose firm also represents Trump in the course of proceedings related to foreign spending at his hotels, was probably the first step in what will be a lengthy effort to prevent the President's tax information are transmitted to the bank. Committee on Ways and Means of the House.
"The requests for its private tax information are not in accordance with the law in force, pursue any appropriate legislative objective and threaten to interfere with the ordinary conduct of audits," said Mr. Consovoy in a statement accompanying his letter. . "We are convinced that this mistaken attempt to politicize the administration of tax laws will not succeed."
[Read the lawyer’s letter.]
It is ultimately up to the Internal Revenue Service and its parent agency, the Treasury Department, to decide whether or not to comply with the request.
Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, Wednesday officially asked the I.R.S. Trump's six-year return of personal and corporate income tax returns as part of what he described as a monitoring investigation by the tax enforcement committee. He also requested any information relating to the audits of Mr. Trump or several Trump commercial entities.
Mr. Neal, a Democrat, made this request through a little known, but frequently used, provision of the federal tax code that allows Congress tax drafting committees to consult the tax information of any declarant. The committee regularly uses this authority to confidentially measure the effects of policy proposals, but there are few precedents for using it to review a chair's reports.
Daniel Rubin, a spokesman for Mr. Neal, declined to comment on Friday's letter.
Mr. Consovoy argued that the committee had no legitimate reason to see Mr. Trump's return. Mr. Consovoy defended Mr. Trump's right to privacy as a private taxpayer, but his arguments accurately reflected those used by Republicans in Congress who challenged the claim.
"Even though Ways and Means had a legitimate committee purpose to request the president's income tax returns and return information, this goal does not entail President Neal's claim," wrote the lawyer. "His request is a transparent effort by a political party to harass a leader of the other party because they do not like his politics and his speech."
This has suggested an important legal battle to come. The authority invoked by Mr Neal, Article 6103 of the Tax Code, only indicates that the agency will "provide" the information upon request. Mr. Neal gave the I.R.S. until next week to comply.
If that were not the case, the House could go to court to try to enforce the application, a process that could take several months or more. Democrats believe that the Trump administration could make an argument similar to that put forward by Mr Consovoy on Friday, namely that Mr Neal's claim has no legitimate legislative purpose and that, on the basis of previous judicial precedents she is essentially disabled.
In his application, Mr. Neal did not raise issues such as the possibility of tax evasion, but indicated that he wished to review the auditor's audit procedures.
"If President Neal really wants to go over how the I.R.S. verifies the presidents, why is he looking for tax returns and reporting information covering the four years before President Trump took office? Asked the lawyer. "Why does not he ask for information on audits of previous presidents?"
Mr. Consovoy said that at the very least, the I.R.S. and the Treasury Department should consult the Office of the Legal Adviser of the Department of Justice before transmitting the information.
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