DEMS/TREASURY/TRUMP TAXES: “A lawyer for President Donald Trump is urging the Treasury Department to reject House Democrats’ demands for Trump’s tax returns. In a letter released Friday [4-5-19], William Consovoy said the administration should deny the request because lawmakers do not have a legislative reason for seeking the returns. Democrats merely want the president’s confidential filings so they can search for things to embarrass him, he said…The letter comes on the heels of Democrats’ formal request this week for six years’ worth of Trump’s individual and business returns, running from 2013 through 2018. Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) is demanding the administration turn over the documents by April 10. Democrats are citing a nearly century-old law that allows the heads of Congress’s tax committees to examine anyone’s returns. Some experts say Democrats don’t need a legislative reason to demand Trump’s returns, noting the law simply says the Treasury secretary ‘shall’ provide the tax committees with requested documents.”
–Brian Faler, “Trump lawyer urges denial of tax return request,” Politico, April 5, 2019 6:14 pm