4/9/2019

STEVE MNUCHIN/TREASURY/TRUMP TAXES: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Tuesday [4-9-19] that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department about a congressional request for President Trump’s tax returns but said he had not personally spoken to Mr. Trump or those lawyers about how the matter was being handled. Mr. Mnuchin’s disclosure is the first public acknowledgment of communication between the White House and the Treasury Department related to Mr. Trump’s tax returns. It comes as the president has made clear he has no intention of handing over his personal financial records without a fight. Mr. Mnuchin, in testimony on Tuesday before two congressional committees, acknowledged that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department before the formal request was made last week. But he said that he had not been briefed on those discussions and described them as ‘informational’…During a marathon set of hearings that lasted more than four hours, Mr. Mnuchin parried multiple questions about how he would handle a request for the president’s taxes. Mr. Mnuchin both defended Mr. Trump’s right to keep his tax returns private and tried to assure lawmakers that he would not allow politics to interfere with Treasury’s decision about whether to provide the records to Congress.”

Alan Rappeport, “Mnuchin Says White House and Treasury Discussed Trump Tax Return Request,” The New York Times online, April 9, 2019