Justice Dept. issues memo backing Mnuchin's refusal to give Trump's tax returns to Congress
Source: Washington Post
The Justice Department on Friday released its legal rationale for refusing to provide President Trump’s tax returns to Congress, arguing that House Democrats want to make the documents public, which “is not a legitimate legislative purpose.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had refused to hand the documents over early last month, writing in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) that the committee’s demand was “unprecedented” and could “have lasting consequences for all taxpayers.”
After getting legal advice from the Justice Department, Mnuchin said he had determined the request should be refused. A spokesperson for the Ways and Means Committee said Friday evening officials were reviewing the opinion. Legal analysts have said Mnuchin’s move would be highly unusual, and some House Democrats have said they expected to take legal action to get a court to intervene. A confidential IRS legal memo obtained by The Washington Post says tax returns must be given to Congress — unless the president were to assert executive privilege, which he has not done in this instance.
The fight over the president’s tax records is one of several ongoing battles between congressional Democrats and the White House over access to documents and witnesses, matters that seem destined to end up in court.
“The Chairman’s request that Treasury turn over the President’s tax returns, for the apparent purpose of making them public, amounted to an unprecedented use of the Committee’s authority and raised a serious risk of abuse,” Assistant Attorney General Steven A. Engel wrote in a 33-page memo dated Thursday. “Congress could not constitutionally confer upon itself the right to compel a disclosure by the Executive Branch of confidential information that does not serve a legitimate legislative purpose.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-dept-issues-memo-backing-mnuchins-refusal-to-provide-trumps-tax-returns-to-congress/2019/06/14/3c8b3376-8ee7-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html
Original article and headline -
By Washington Post Staff
June 14 at 5:17 PM
The legal opinion argues that House Democrats intend to make the president’s tax returns public, “which is not a legitimate legislative purpose.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in refusing to provide lawmakers with the documents, had called the request “unprecedented” and one that could “have lasting consequences for all taxpayers.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/14/justice-dept-issues-legal-opinion-backing-mnuchins-refusal-to-turn-over-trumps-tax-returns-to-congress/?utm_term=.7aad22ef6234
= new reply since forum marked as read
Well at least you got it taken care of... But yeah, if you go to those places at the wrong time then you're in there for hours. 
Not much longer... 
although not as long as that for a driver's license but did wait even longer than that to get my Social Security records corrected. 
