Judge Rejects Donald Trump's Request To Keep Tax Returns Secret From US Congress

Donald Trump. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - A US federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump's application to prevent the House committee from disclosing his tax returns, saying Congressional legislative interests outweigh the respect Trump should receive as a former president.

US District Judge Trevor McFadden said in his ruling Trump was "wrong in law" for attempting to block the House Ways and Means Committee from obtaining his tax returns.

Judge McFadden, who also said the committee chair was authorized to publish returns if he deems it suitable, gave 14 days to appeal his ruling.

Donald Trump is the first president in 40 years not to release his tax returns, as he aims to keep details of his wealth and the activities of his family company, the Trump Organization, confidential.

The committee sued in 2019 to force the disclosure of tax returns, and the dispute persists nearly 11 months after Trump left office. With this decision, the Treasury Department was able to disclose it to the House committee that requested it more than two years ago, citing CNN.

Separately, Trump's attorney Patrick Strawbridge told McFadden last month the committee had no valid reason to look at the tax return and had requested it in the hope of uncovering information that could harm Trump politically.

Meanwhile, House Democrats say they need Trump's tax returns to see if the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential returns in general, and to assess whether new legislation is needed.

McFadden, Trump's appointee, said the committee would be able to achieve its goals without publicizing the returns.

However, he warned the chair of the Democratic panel, Richard Neal, that while he had every right to do so, "anyone could see that publishing classified tax information from a political rival is the kind of move that would again annoy the inventor."

Neither the committee nor Strawbridge immediately responded to requests for comment on the decision.