House of Commons Ways and Means Committee Issues Subpoenas for Trump Tax Returns

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Neal has sent subpoenas to both IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. A Ministry of Finance spokesman confirmed to CNN that he had received Neal's summons.

Although Neal did not need a subpoena to finally go to court, he issued subpoenas on the advice of the House lawyers that he consulted throughout the process on how to conduct the most solid business possible.

Unlike other requests for information from members of the House, Neal relies on a decades-old tax law – 6103 – which states that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee or the Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation may request tax information from an individual as part of his legislative work. Democrats claimed under this law that they had the power to seek Trump's tax returns even without subpoenas, but internal deliberation brought Neal to the point where it had been suggested that a subpoena could strengthen the case in court. Members of the Neal Democrats Committee claimed that they needed to have access to the president's tax returns to understand how the IRS administers the presidential audit program even as Republicans and the Department Treasury said it was not a legitimate legislative objective.

"After consulting with the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department came to the firm conclusion that we knew from day one: this Democrats' request for the House to turn the tax code into arms for purely political reasons is illegitimate and should be treated as such, "he said. Kevin Brady, the biggest Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement this week.

Neal's approach should eventually be followed by a lawsuit, a process that could take months or even years.

Key Democrat is considering next steps after Mnuchin refuses to pass Trump's tax information
Neal – a Massachusetts Democrat who has been waiting for years to hold onto Ways and Means House and invests in political reforms that would cement a legacy beyond the tax fight – was an unlikely figure to lead the charge for the chairman of closely-held financial information. While Neal said from the outset that he was considering asking for Trump's tax returns, the fight forced a pragmatic and pragmatic democrat to stand up against Trump, even as he worked hard behind the scenes to maintain relations with the Treasury. The secretary and the president himself are laying the groundwork for further negotiations on infrastructure.

Neal's measured approach has sometimes frustrated members of his committee who would have regretted not having adopted a more aggressive attitude in his fight for tax returns. Some members of the committee, like Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Liberal Democrat from Texas, claimed that if they were in Neal's position, they would accuse Mnuchin of contempt for Congress when he refused to hand over tax returns, a step that is unlikely to happen with Neal at the head of the committee. Doggett argued that he would have also moved the process forward more quickly.

"I think knowing what we know now and thinking about it, it would have been better to move earlier," said Doggett. "The president made it clear that he did not intend to provide documents."

Others have argued that Neal's approach was the right one, claiming that he had carefully put together a case that could survive court review at a time when Democrats could be brought to carry several business at a time to obtain information from the Trump administration. Democrats are expected to initiate proceedings to obtain Mueller's full and unredacted report and may be required to take legal action on other issues to enforce subpoenas from committees.

Now, Trump's tax fight will come out largely from Neal's hands.

In the coming days – if the Treasury Department or the IRS defy the subpoenas – the House Council would ask the Speaker of the House to authorize a lawsuit. Afterwards, the speaker has the option of holding a vote in the Plenary Chamber or, more likely, requesting the bipartite Legal Advisory Group to approve a legal action. The group is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans, which means that Democrats can authorize any lawsuit of their choice through a group vote.

Contrary to the disputes between the executive and the legislature that have resorted to the courts over the past ten years, the objections to the IRS 6103 status have not been tested by the courts. . The law, which stipulates that the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate Finance Chair and the Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation may request information on individual taxpayers and that the Secretary of the Treasury will "provide" them. Has never been disputed.

This story has been updated with additional developments on Friday.

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