Trump’s lawsuit to block the release of his taxes gets tossed by Trump-appointed judge

This Tuesday, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump’s lawyers that sought to block the release of his income taxes, NBC News reports.

According to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, Trump’s lawyers are on the wrong side of 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,” McFadden wrote.

From NBC News:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., first asked for the tax information in April 2019, citing a federal law that requires the Treasury Department and the IRS to turn over individual tax returns when demanded by any of the three congressional tax committees.

The Treasury Department refused to provide the documents at the time, with the administration arguing that Congress had no legitimate lawmaking purpose to seek them and that it was simply hoping to find something that would embarrass Trump.

McFadden dismissed Trump’s claim that Congress just is hoping to find something to embarrass him about. 

“Congress may not expose someone simply for the sake of exposure,” McFadden said, adding that it “might not be right or wise to publish the returns, but it is the chairman’s right to do so,” and that “publishing the confidential tax information of a political rival is the type of move that will return to plague the inventor.”

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.