(RightIsRight.co) – Former President Donald Trump has requested an intervention by the US Supreme Court to prevent a Democrat-dominated US House of Representatives committee from accessing his tax returns.
Trump’s legal team filed the emergency request on Monday asking the Supreme Court to block the execution of a ruling by a lower court, which has allowed the Democrat-led Ways and Means House Committee to review his tax materials.
The House committee claims it needs access to Trump’s tax returns for its legislative work, but the 45th president of the United States says the Democrat legislators’ demands are “politically motivated.”
His legal team has thus requested that the US Supreme put the lower court ruling on hold while Trump prepares an official appeal.
In their emergency filing, Trump’s lawyers argued that the legislators’ request to access the former president’s tax returns would damage the separation of powers among the three branches of the US government.
“If allowed to stand, it will undermine the separation of powers and render the office of the Presidency vulnerable to invasive information demands from political opponents in the legislative branch,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, as cited by Newsmax.
They addressed their filing to US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative appointed by President George W. Bush.
If the Supreme Court heeds Trump’s request, that could prevent Democrat lawmakers from accessing the former president’s tax materials “for years,” according to The Daily Mail.
The report notes that if the Republicans retake the US House of Representatives in the November 8 midterms, they are expected to terminate the Democrat lawmakers’ attempt to access Trump’s tax returns altogether.
The House Ways and Means Committee began suing Trump in 2019 to force him to disclose his tax returns after he became the first president in 40 years who didn’t make public his taxes.
The committee’s motion is based on a federal law under which its chairman could ask the IRS for any American citizen’s tax returns.
Democrat lawmakers have argued that Trump’s tax data is needed to ensure the IRS is auditing him properly and to decide whether new legislation is warranted.
Trump’s lawyers have countered that their real goals are to dig up any information that could inflict political damage on Trump, who mulls running for president again in 2024.
In December 2021, a US district judge, Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, ruled in favor of the Ways and Means Committee, saying the legislative body had the authority to examine the former president’s tax returns.
In August 2022, the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, upheld McFadden’s ruling against Trump.
“Every president takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same laws as all other citizens upon leaving office,” the DC Circuit Court said.
The Trump lawyers’ Supreme Court request came after, on October 27, the appeals court refused a rehearing of the case.
What is your opinion? Should the court stop Congress from obtaining Trump’s tax returns? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
Former President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in his fight to prevent a U.S. House of Representatives committee from gaining access to his tax returns. https://t.co/BtYTDapDNj
— Newsmax (@newsmax) October 31, 2022
