LEGAL/TREASURY/TRUMP TAXES: “President Trump’s personal lawyer on Friday [4-5-19] asserted Mr. Trump’s right as a citizen to keep his tax returns private and told the Treasury Department not to hand the returns over to House Democrats, foreshadowing what has the potential to be a far-reaching legal fight that could reach the Supreme Court. The lawyer, William S. Consovoy, argued that Democrats who have demanded to see Mr. Trump’s tax information had no legitimate legislative reason to request it and that Representative Richard E. Neal’s decision this week to ask for six years of the president’s personal and business returns flouts ‘fundamental constitutional constraints.’ He also called it a ‘gross abuse of power’…Mr. Consovoy’s views have no direct bearing on the case. The little known tax code provision employed by the Democrats in demanding Mr. Trump’s returns says only that the Internal Revenue Service ‘shall furnish’ the information, giving it and its parent agency, the Treasury Department, little leeway in deciding how to respond.”
–Nicholas Fandos and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Lawyer Asserts President’s Right to Keep Tax Returns Private,” The New York Times online, April 5, 2019