The U.S. Treasury Department says six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns have been turned over to a House committee after the Supreme Court declined to intervene saying Congress has the power to request them.
Donald Trump had requested that the Supreme Court work to halt the handover after a three-judge panel on a federal appeals court in Washington rejected claims from Trump that the request to obtain the tax returns by the House Ways and Means panel was unconstitutional.
A spokesperson with the U.S. Treasury Department confirmed that the years-long effort to obtain years of his tax returns has effectively ended.
The U.S. Treasury said, “Treasury has complied with last week’s court decision.”
It is unclear if the House committee plans to release any portion of the tax records to the public.
In April 2019, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal submitted the request to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to obtain copies of Trump’s individual tax records along with the tax records for eight of his businesses between 2013 and 2018.
The request was submitted with the intention to determine if Trump and his companies complied with various tax laws and to be sure an IRS audit of Trump’s tax records was done “fully and appropriately,” the House committee said in a statement.
“It is critical to ensure the accountability of our government and elected officials. To maintain trust in our democracy, the American people must be assured that their government is operating properly, as laws intend,” a statement said.