Politics & Finances

House Asks Supreme Court to Formally Settle Trump Tax Issue

House Asks Supreme Court to Formally Settle Trump Tax Issue

Recently, the Supreme Court temporarily delayed the release of former President Donald Trump's tax documents. Now, the U.S. House of Representatives panel that wants the information is petitioning the highest court in the land.

The New York Times shared details about Thursday's developments, noting that the Congressional panel believes that further delaying the release of the records would undermine the legislative branch's constitutional authority. 

In a 38-page brief, the House's chief lawyer, Douglas N. Letter, wrote, in part that such a delay "would leave the committee and Congress as a whole little or no time to complete their legislative work during this Congress, which is quickly approaching its end."

Originally, Trump and his legal counsel were hoping that a delay into 2023 would mean a Republican-controlled House of Representatives might block the investigation altogether. Now that the "Red Wave" didn't come to fruition quite how the GOP expected, however, this goal might be wishful thinking.

Previously, The Washington Post and other outlets confirmed that Chief Justice John Roberts (R) "temporarily delayed" the release of the tax documents in question in an apparent bid  to give the full court more time to consider the issue. 

During Trump's presidency, he appointed three sitting Supreme Court Justices -- Neil Gorsuch who replaced Antonin Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh who replaced Anthony Kennedy, and Amy Coney Barrett who replaced Ruth Bader Ginsberg. 

Trump's legal counsel previously promised that they would not let the matter rest, so it is unsurprising that the Supreme Court was brought into this ongoing situation. 

Now, however, the House Ways and Means Committee seems determined to put the matter to rest once and for all. 

Trump has been facing an onslaught of legal problems following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

The businessman's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida was the subject of a now-infamous Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raid on August 8 and, per Bloomberg, the businessman "invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on Wednesday [August 10] to avoid answering deposition questions in a civil probe of his family real estate business by New York Attorney General Letitia James."

The raid had some Republicans calling for the release of the FBI's affidavit, pressure to which the investigative agency has not succumbed.

Trump recently came under fire for falsely accusing past Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama of keeping classified documents, as well. 

All of this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Trump family's legal woes right now. Letitia James and her office have officially filed a $250 million civil suit against Trump, and the former President is also the subject of an ongoing 2020 election fraud probe in Georgia.

In addition to all of that, the Trump Organization is currently the defendant in a criminal tax trial in New York City. Proceedings officially began on October 24 with jury selection. 

Yesterday, Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney shared key details of how he skirted federal tax laws for years.

What do you think? Should the Supreme Court lift the hold on Trump's personal tax records?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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