Supreme Court halts referral of Trump tax returns to congressional committee
Supreme Court halts referral of Trump tax returns to congressional committee
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily suspended former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from being referred to a congressional committee.
Recall that the House Budget Committee first requested Trump’s tax returns in 2019 as part of the IRS investigation into the former president’s compliance with tax laws.
Roberts’ ruling gives the Supreme Court time to consider the legal issues in Trump’s emergency appeal filed in court Monday.
Without court intervention, tax returns could have been filed by the Treasury Department with the House Budget Committee as early as Thursday.
Roberts gave the committee until Nov. 10.
The lower courts ruled that the committee had broad authority to receive the tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims that the committee exceeded its authority.
If Trump can convince the nation’s highest court to intervene, a final decision could be delayed until the next Congress begins in January. If Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives in the fall elections, they could deny the records request.
The court is separately considering an appeal by Sen. Lindsey Graham seeking to avoid testifying before a Georgia grand jury that is investigating possible illegal interference by Trump and his allies in that state’s 2020 election.
Also pending before the court is an emergency appeal by Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelly Ward, who does not want to give her phone records to the House special committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Recall that Manhattan District Court Attorney Cyrus Vance was able to obtain copies of Trump’s tax records as part of a criminal investigation. The case also went all the way to the Supreme Court, which rejected Trump’s argument that he has broad immunity as president.
Recall also that Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a lawsuit related to the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August. The court rejected that appeal.