Roberts, in a brief order, issued a temporary stay of judgment from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit pending further action by either him or the full court. He also ordered the Ways and Means Committee to respond to Trump’s emergency request for the Supreme Court to intervene in the long-running dispute over his tax records by Nov. 10. Roberts oversees emergency matters arising from the DC Circuit. Trump appealed to the high court on Monday after a federal appeals court in Washington last week rejected his request to have the court review a full three-judge panel’s ruling that found the Ways and Means Committee could take several years of his tax returns. statements. The D.C. Circuit’s refusal to rehear the case cleared the way for the IRS to turn over Trump’s tax records to the House committee, and the agency was poised to do so Thursday. In the emergency request to Roberts, Trump’s lawyers said the dispute with House Democrats over his records raises separation of powers issues that will affect future presidents. “The committee’s purpose in requesting President Trump’s tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with the release of the president’s tax information,” they claimed. Trump’s legal team also told the Supreme Court that public statements by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who sought the records, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicate they intend to obtain the former president to reveal his “tax information” to the public for exhibition purposes’. The legal battle between Trump and congressional Democrats stems from a request Neal filed with the IRS in 2019 for years of tax returns and related information about Trump and some of his business entities. Neal’s request was made under a federal law that allows Congress to request certain people’s tax information from the agency. At the time, the Treasury Department under the Trump administration refused to comply, arguing that Neal’s request was not supported by a legitimate legislative purpose. The committee then sued the IRS and the Treasury Department to force them to turn over the records. With the dispute pending, President Biden took office and Neal renewed his request, this time asking for tax returns for 2015 through 2020. The Biden administration said the Treasury Department should give the records to Congress, which which the ministry said it intended to do. Trump again went to court to block the release of his returns, unsuccessfully arguing that House Democrats’ requests were unconstitutional and lacked a valid legislative purpose. In his Supreme Court filing, Trump said the legal issues presented in his case are “unclear” and warrant a high court review. “No Congress has ever exercised its legislative authority to require a president’s tax returns,” his lawyers wrote, later adding that Congress has no pressing need for Trump’s information “so it can study general finance law.” and regulating future IRS audits presidents’. Trump has in numerous legal battles tried to shield his financial information from congressional and state investigators. In 2019, the House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoenaed his accounting firm, Mazars, for years of the former president’s financial records, setting off a legal battle that ended up in the Supreme Court and then sent back to lower courts. Trump and the Oversight Committee reached a settlement in September, ending the litigation. The Supreme Court also ruled in June 2020 that the Manhattan district attorney could receive troves of Trump’s business records and tax returns. The financial information was released in February 2021 after the high court again rejected an attempt by Trump to shield his records from prosecutors. Robert Legare contributed to this report.
