Former U.S. President Donald Trump is trying hard to block the release of his tax returns by the IRS and Treasury Department to the House Ways and Means Committee.
The House Democrats’ only basis for requesting Trump’s returns was based on the pretext that they want to examine how the IRS audits Presidents.
Trump’s lawyers say that’s just a smokescreen for Democrats to use his returns for political payback.
“While House Democrats had offered countless justifications for obtaining the president’s tax returns, no one at the time had ever mentioned a desire to find out how the IRS audits presidents,” his lawyers stated. “The chairman’s request for Trump’s tax returns bore little resemblance to an effort to investigate how the IRS audits presidents. It asked for the information of only one president, asked for open files for which audits have not been completed, and never asked the IRS for the most relevant information — namely, how it audits presidents.”
Trump’s lawyers are not only seeking to block Congress from getting his tax returns, but is also asking that the court orders the committee to end all ongoing examinations of Trump’s business dealings.