WASHINGTON _ House Democrats on Wednesday formally demanded that the IRS turn over six years of personal and business tax returns for President Donald Trump, setting the stage for a clash with the White House and in the courts.
Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig, citing Congress' oversight responsibility to review the president's business activities before and during his first term.
"We must obtain President Trump's tax returns and review whether the IRS is carrying out its responsibilities," said Neal, D-Mass. "The committee has a duty to examine whether congressional action may be needed to require such audits, and to oversee that they are conducted properly."
Trump said at the White House that his returns are under audit by the IRS and he doesn't intend to turn anything over until that is finished. "Until such time as I'm not under audit I would not be inclined to do it," he told reporters.
Federal law allows the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees and the Joint Committee on Taxation to ask the IRS for the tax returns of any filer, but some legal scholars believe a request requires Congress to have a legislative purpose, including general oversight.
In his letter, Neal cited an IRS policy of auditing the returns of all sitting presidents and vice presidents, and said that his request is aimed at determining "if that policy is being followed."
Congress has released private tax information during the scandals involving President Richard Nixon and during the more recent allegations that the IRS targeted tea party groups under President Barack Obama's administration.
Trump broke with 40 years of presidential campaign tradition in refusing to release his personal tax returns before he was elected, claiming at one point that he was under audit, and at another that it was an invasion of his privacy.
Groups on the left had been pushing Neal to request for the returns, asserting that he was not moving fast enough. Some even threatened a possible primary challenge if he didn't act more quickly.
