US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has announced that he will not grant the Democrats any insight into President Trump’s tax returns. It is the latest escalation in the dispute with the opposition in Congress.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has confirmed that the government will not file the tax returns of President Donald Trump in the democratically controlled House of Representatives. The request by the Committee on Ways and Means has no legitimate legislative task, Mnuchin told Committee Chairman Richard Neal by letter. He sat on the advice of the Ministry of Justice. His ministry was „not authorized to disclose the requested (tax) statements and information.“
This reaction had been expected. However, it is expected to initiate litigation over Trump’s tax returns. The Democrats can now request a release from the US tax authority or sue in court. Neal had called for insight into Trump’s tax returns in early April, citing a law. The law states that the tax authority should make the tax returns of each taxpayer available to a handful of high-ranking MPs, including the Chairman of the Committee on Means and Avenues. The committee’s responsibility also includes financial and tax policy.
Dispute with Democrats escalates
Mnuchin’s decision is the next low point in the ever-escalating dispute between the Democrats in the US Congress and the President and his followers.
Just hours before announcing the Finance Minister’s decision, a senior Democrat had announced his intention to have the US House of Representatives vote on whether Secretary of State William Barr disobeyed Congress. With this proposal, the head of the Judiciary Committee of the Parliamentary Chamber, Jerrold Nadler, responded that the Ministry of Justice did not publish as requested the full report from Special Rapporteur Robert Mueller to President Donald Trump and Russia.
Nadler said that Barr’s refusal to publish the report leaves the panel no choice but to initiate such a procedure. The congress must see the complete Mueller report in order to be able to fulfill its supervisory duties. The committee will discuss and vote on a resolution this Wednesday, unless the judiciary department gives in.
Weekly tactics
The Democrats have been demanding this for weeks – so far without success. They accuse Barr of acting like Trump’s personal advocate and not his role as the nation’s top prosecutor.
Barr has rated the report as a comprehensive discharge from the president. He made a partially blackened version of the report public and offered that a group of members of Congress could see a version with far fewer blackening. Certain blackening would have to remain. That’s not enough for the Democrats.
The committee had set Barr a deadline until Monday morning. Stephen Boyd, a ministry official, proposed a meeting with the Judiciary Committee to find an „acceptable agreement“. Spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said her ministry has taken „extraordinary steps“ to meet the committee’s information requests.
Congress may initiate a procedure for contempt of parliament, for example, if someone refuses to testify before a panel or to hand over documents. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives could use the judiciary to force the demand for the Mueller report.
Ex-prosecutors see judicial obstruction by Trump
Meanwhile, more than 400 ex-prosecutors claim that Trump was convicted of legal disability if he was not protected from prosecution by his office. This emerges from an open letter written by the lawyers in response to the Mueller report. The authors argue that the paper describes several acts by Trump that fulfilled all the requirements for such a lawsuit.
