Judge rules Trump can't shield tax returns from House committee

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the Treasury Department can release former President Donald Trump's tax records to the House Ways and Means Committee.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden did put the ruling on hold, as he expects there to be an appeal. Trump's attorneys argued that the records were only requested by House Democrats as a way to expose Trump's finances, but McFadden rejected this, writing that the lawyers were "wrong on the law. A long line of Supreme Court cases requires great deference to facially valid congressional inquiries. Even the special solicitude accorded former presidents does not alter the outcome."

The committee has asked for six years of tax records as part of an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service's presidential audit program.

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