司法部法律顾问办公室已经决定财政部必须移交前总统唐纳德·特朗普美国众议院筹款委员会的纳税申报单。
周五发布的意见称，尽管委员会“不能在不满足宪法要求的情况下迫使行政部门披露(税收信息)，即这些信息可以服务于合法的立法目的”，但在这种情况下，“方式方法委员会”援引了充分的理由要求前总统提供税收信息。”
方法和手段委员会主席、众议员理查德·尼尔(Richard Neal)于2019年4月首次要求提供特朗普6年的纳税申报单，此外还要求提供特朗普8家企业的纳税申报单，根据一项已有97年历史的法律，该法律要求财政部长应要求向税务小组主席“提供”任何纳税人的申报单。
尼尔在解释这项请求的“立法目的”时表示，委员会一直在“考虑立法提案，并对我们的联邦税法进行监督，包括...国税局针对总统审计和执行联邦税法的程度。”
无论是作为候选人还是在总统任期内，特朗普强烈抵制公开他的纳税申报单，他的司法部支持他在法律上对抗方式方法委员会，认定尼尔的推理不符合合法的立法目的。
在乔·拜登总统就职和司法部担任新领导后，众议员尼尔再次提出要求，导致周五的法律意见扭转了特朗普·DOJ的立场。
目前还不清楚财政部何时会真正交出特朗普的纳税申报单。该案最近的一份文件称，特朗普需要提前72小时收到通知，然后他的返回才会被转交给希尔，这让他有机会对这一决定提出上诉。
如果委员会获得特朗普的纳税申报单，尼尔将能够指定立法者和委员会工作人员在私人场合审查这些申报单——但公开发布这些申报单仍将是重罪。然而，根据委员会的规定，该小组可能会投票将这些回报记入公共记录。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西在周五的一份声明中对司法部的决定做出了回应，称赞政府取得了“法治的胜利”
佩洛西说:“获得前总统特朗普的纳税申报单事关国家安全。“美国人民应该知道他令人不安的利益冲突和对我们作为总统的安全和民主的破坏。”
今年2月，特朗普8年的纳税申报单是移交在长达数年的法庭斗争升级到最高法院后，曼哈顿地区检察官Cy Vance的办公室。
虽然这些回报可以作为万斯正在对特朗普及其公司进行的刑事调查的证据，但它们的公开发布受到大陪审团保密规则的限制。
DOJ says Treasury Department must hand over Trump tax information to House committee
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has determined the Treasury Department must hand over former PresidentDonald Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.
The opinion, posted Friday, says that while the committee "cannot compel the Executive Branch to disclose [tax information] without satisfying the constitutional requirement that the information could serve a legitimate legislative purpose," the Ways and Means Committee in this instance '"invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President's tax information."
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal first requested six years' worth of Trump's tax returns in April of 2019, in addition to tax returns for eight of Trump's businesses, under a 97-year-old law that requires the Treasury secretary to "furnish" the returns of any taxpayer to the chairman of the tax-writing panel by request.
In explaining the "legislative purpose" of the request, which Neal would need to prove under law in order to secure the returns, Neal said the committee had been "considering legislative proposals and conducting oversight related to our Federal tax laws, including ... the extent to which the IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a President."
As both a candidate and during his presidency, Trumpvigorously resistedmaking his tax returns public, and his Justice Department backed him in his legal fight against the Ways and Means Committee, determining Neal's reasoning didn't amount to a legitimate legislative purpose.
After President Joe Biden took office and the Justice Department assumed new leadership, Rep. Neal renewed his request, resulting in Friday's legal opinion reversing the Trump DOJ's stance.
It's not immediately clear when the Treasury Department would actually hand over Trump's tax returns. A recent filing in the case states that Trump would need to be given 72 hours' notice before his returns are transmitted to the Hill, giving him an opportunity to potentially appeal the decision.
If the committee is provided Trump's tax returns, Neal would be able to designate lawmakers and committee staff to review them in a private setting -- but it would still be a felony to release them publicly. However, the panel could potentially vote to enter the returns into the public record, according to the committee's rules.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to news of the Justice Department's decision in a statement Friday, applauding the administration for delivering "a victory for the rule of law."
"Access to former President Trump's tax returns is a matter of national security," Pelosi said. "The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president."
In February, eight years of Trump's tax returns werehanded overto Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's office following a years-long court battle that escalated all the way to the Supreme Court.
While the returns could be used as evidence in Vance's ongoing criminal investigation of Trump and his company, their public release is restricted by grand jury secrecy rules.
