Trump Stumbles in Fight to Keep N.Y. Taxes From U.S. House
President Donald Trump lost his court fight to block New York from handing his state tax records to Congressional Democrats.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump suffered a setback in his lawsuit to block New York from giving a copy of his state taxes to Congressional committees after a federal judge in Washington determined he doesn’t have jurisdiction.
But in his ruling Monday U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said Trump could renew the fight and file his lawsuit in New York.
Trump’s lawyers argued in Washington that New York enacted a state financial-disclosure law to punish him for his speech and political views in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The suit also names the House Ways & Means Committee, which hadn’t yet requested the information from New York.
“Based on the current allegations, Mr. Trump has not met his burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over either of the New York defendants,” Nichols, who was appointed by the president, said in his ruling.
The lawsuit was only dismissed with regard to the New York defendants, the attorney general’s office and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The case remains pending against the House Ways and Means Committee, which still hasn’t requested the tax returns. Nichols gave Trump and the House Democrats until Wednesday to file a joint report on how they plan to proceed.
“We are reviewing the opinion,” Jay Sekulow, the president’s lawyer, said of Monday’s ruling. “The case against the Ways and Means Committee proceeds in federal court.”
So far, the president has been able to slow Democrat efforts to shine a light on his personal finances by fighting subpoenas at every turn and appealing rulings that he lost. Democrats have turned to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Trump’s banks and accountants to get his financial information.
New York Attorney General Letitia James argued in court papers that Nichols doesn’t have jurisdiction to consider the president’s challenge to the state law, known as the TRUST Act, which makes those records available to certain congressional committees.
“The TRUST Act is an important tool that will ensure accountability to millions of Americans who deserve to know the truth,” James, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We have never doubted that this law was legal, which is why we vigorously defended it from the start and will continue to do so.”
A representative of House Democrats didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Early on in the case, a different federal judge appointed by Trump said he wouldn’t handle the lawsuit, citing a court rule aimed at preventing judge shopping to ensure the integrity of the judiciary.
Breaking with recent decades of tradition, Trump has refused to make public his tax returns, even as he maintains ownership of a global business empire including a luxury hotel frequented by foreign dignitaries just blocks from the White House.
The case is Trump v. Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 19-cv-2173, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
--With assistance from Laura Davison.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Joe Schneider
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