Liberal Free Chat Zone

[ksquared]

Part I: Hey, Gmenfan. It's never going to end is it. I had read the first two. The third reminded me I forgot to read the tax form story I saw earlier. This one really pissed me off. We've got a BIG witch hunt going on here.

House panel can get Trump’s taxes, appeals court says
By Callie Patteson August 10, 2022 10:26am Updated

The House Ways and Means Committee does have the right to see former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, denying his claim that the request for the documents was “politically motivated.”

The three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court ruling from December that found the committee’s ask to be justified.

The House panel, chaired by Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), first requested the 45th president’s business and personal returns in 2019 — seeking documents for the years between 2013 and 2018 as part of an investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s audit program and tax law compliance by Trump. Federal law says the IRS “shall furnish” the returns of any taxpayer to a handful of top lawmakers.

Trump has long claimed the committee’s action was driven by opposition to him personally. However, Senior Circuit Judge David Sentelle wrote in his ruling that lawmakers having personal political motives “as well as legislative ones” is nothing new.

“Indeed, it is likely rare that an individual member of Congress would work for a legislative purpose without considering the political implications,” wrote Sentelle, who added that courts “do not probe motives of individual legislators.”

“These motives are explicitly protected by the Speech or Debate Clause.”

Sentelle also ruled that the committee’s request does not violate the separation of powers principle and the Treasury Department’s decision to hand over the returns does not violate Trump’s First Amendment rights.

“While it is possible that Congress may attempt to threaten the sitting president with an invasive request after leaving office, every president takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same law as all other citizens upon leaving office,” the judge wrote. “This is a feature of our democratic republic, not a bug.”

In December, a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled that the committee has the authority to obtain and potentially publish the records.

“A long line of Supreme Court cases requires great deference to facially valid congressional inquires,” US District Judge Trevor McFadden wrote at the time. “Even the special solicitude accorded former presidents does not alter the outcome.”

Neal praised the ruling on Tuesday, saying it has “yet again” affirmed the committee’s position.

“I’m pleased that this long-anticipated opinion makes clear the law is on our side,” Neal said. “When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also celebrated the decision, calling it “an important victory for the rule of law.”

“Access to the former president’s tax returns is crucial to upholding the public interest, our national security & our Democracy,” the California Democrat said in a tweet.

“We look forward to the IRS complying with this ruling and delivering the requested documents so that Ways and Means can begin its oversight responsibilities of the mandatory presidential audit program.”

The appeals court’s decision came one day after the former president’s Florida estate at Mar-a-Lago was raided by FBI agents. The raid was reportedly part of a probe into whether Trump illegally took classified records from the White House.

Trump has claimed the raid was the result of “prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.”

The former president has yet to announce whether he intends to seek another White House bid.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/10/house-panel-can-get-trumps-taxes-appeals-court-says/