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"There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here and I object to the
release of the returns not only on behalf of my client but on
behalf of all future holders of the Office of the President of
the United States," said Trump lawyer Ronald Fischetti in a
statement.
"This politicization and harassment of Mr. Trump is uncalled for
and outrageous," Fischetti said, adding that he had "never seen
anything like this" in his career as a lawyer.
The Justice Department on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue
Service to hand over Trump's tax returns to a House committee,
saying the panel has offered "sufficient reasons" for requesting
the material.
House Democrats have said they need Trump's tax returns to see
if the IRS is properly auditing presidential tax returns in
general and to assess whether new legislation is needed.
The order marked a reversal for the Justice Department. In 2019,
when Trump was still in office, the department's Office of Legal
Counsel declared that the request for his taxes by the
Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee was based on a
"disingenuous" objective aimed at exposing them to the public.
Unlike other recent presidents, Trump did not publicly disclose
his tax returns.
In 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee filed a lawsuit in
hopes of forcing the Trump administration to comply with its
request for the tax returns.
That lawsuit, which is still pending, provides a vehicle for
Trump to argue that the Justice Department's order from last
week is unlawful.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, who is hearing the
case, has given Trump and his lawyers a Wednesday deadline for
explaining their view of how the case should proceed.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch
in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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