A federal judge ruled Wednesday that some of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns must be given to a House committee investigating possible wrongdoing by Trump and his corporation, the Trump Organization.
CNN reports that the ruling is a stinging defeat for Trump, who has long tried to keep his business dealings and tax information secret:
“The ruling is a resounding loss for Trump, given that the accounting records appear to cover financial information that the former President has fiercely protected.
“It is a major step toward resolving the long-running fight over access to Trump’s tax records. Trump has been able to delay the subpoena by taking the case to court, appealing all the way to the Supreme Court. That legal fight has lasted more than two years.
“The case is a continuation of the House tax returns case that traveled up to the Supreme Court. Now, District Judge Amit Mehta has weighed the House request for Trump’s financial records against the standards laid out by the Supreme Court in its 7-2 ruling last year.”
Judge Mehta said in his ruling that the House can have all financial information surrounding “Foreign Emoluments Clause issues and the General Services Administration’s lease with the Trump hotel at the Old Post Office building in Washington.”
Mehta’s ruling also allows House committees to have access to some financial documents from 2017 and 2018, while Trump was serving as president.
In his ruling, Mehta noted:
“The Committee has presented ‘detailed and substantial’ evidence that President Trump, at least through his business interests, likely received foreign payments during the term of his presidency.”
Though Trump will likely appeal the decision, the fact that a federal judge has already ruled in the affirmative for the House sets a precedent that any other court will find it difficult to overrule, especially since Mehta’s ruling is narrow in scope and focused solely on time periods that involve business decisions the ex-president’s company made while he was still in office.
