WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump shushes journalists before signing the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act in the Rose Garden at the White House June 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. In the midst of nationwide protests against the death of George Floyd, the U.S. Labor Department announced the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, a surprising improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Getty)
Former President Donald Trump‘s lawyers argued on Monday that a New York law, the TRUST Act, which allows Congress tax committees to request public officials’ state tax returns, does not apply to Trump since he is no longer in office.
Trump’s lawyers wrote in a court filing, “While the TRUST Act is not the clearest statute, the best reading is that it does not apply to former Presidents.”
In 2019, Trump filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his state tax returns.
Judge Carl Nichols, a federal district court judge, has mandated that the Ways and Means Committee must alert Trump’s lawyers ahead of time if they plan to request Trump’s state tax returns. He also ordered that Trump’s team be given 14 days to fulfill the request to the committee.
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The committee’s lawyers stated in a court filing on Monday that they believe Nichols’ order does not respect the Constitution’s separation of powers principle. “That non-action by him should now serve as a clear signal to this Court that he did not and does not have any claim worth pursuing about the New York state statute. This Court should therefore now immediately dismiss this case, leaving plaintiff Trump with whatever remedies he might wish to pursue in an appropriate court against an appropriate defendant.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) has been more focused on obtaining Trump’s federal, rather than state, tax returns from the Treasury Department and IRS in the interest of pursuing a separate lawsuit.
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