Status: 11/01/2022 4:54 p.m
The US Supreme Court has stopped ex-President Trump from disclosing his tax records. His attempt to avoid publication had previously been rejected by all instances.
The US Supreme Court has stopped the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax documents to a House committee. The chairman of the court, John Roberts, thus granted Trump’s request and ordered the disclosure of the documents by the tax authority IRS to be stopped for the time being.
Trump’s lawyers filed an urgent petition with the US Supreme Court on Monday to prevent the last-minute release. The Congressional Committee now has until November 10 to respond to that motion.
Tax returns should not be published
An appeals court in Washington last week cleared the way for Trump’s tax records to be released to the committee. They should have been handed over from this Thursday.
In recent years, Trump has opposed lower instances of Congress gaining insight into his tax affairs. Contrary to usual practice in the United States, real estate entrepreneur Trump did not make his tax returns public either as a presidential candidate or after moving into the White House.
Trump pulls through all instances
To this day, he tries to prevent disclosure. Critics therefore suspect that he has something to hide. The Treasury Department of Trump’s successor Joe Biden’s administration instructed the IRS last year to hand over the documents to the committee.
Trump fought back in court and eventually applied to the Court of Appeals in Washington to stop it. The court rejected this in a first round in August. Trump then requested a re-examination, which was also rejected last week. That left him to go to the Supreme Court.
Hoping for a replacement in the House of Representatives?
On November 8th a new House of Representatives will be elected in the USA. Should Republicans win a majority in the Congress Chamber, Trump could hope that the committee, under new leadership, will refrain from requesting the documents.
The new Congress will convene in early January 2023. Trump is currently struggling with a number of legal problems – including taking secret government documents to his private estate after leaving the White House.