CREW requests IRS documents on tax returns disclosures

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has refused to turn over President Trump’s tax returns, despite a subpoena from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal. Stonewalling the subpoena violates the law, as well as a reported draft memorandum by IRS staff. Mnuchin reviewed the memo, which says that he does not get to decide whether or not to disclose the tax returns, and that they must be released to the committee, unless the president invokes executive privilege.

CREW sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS for communications about requests for tax returns and advice from IRS counsel on the matter, which would include the memo. CREW also requested documents about any instances since 2001 when the IRS disclosed tax returns to congressional committees, and any times they declined.

The requested records will shed light on whether Mnuchin’s refusal to turn over Trump’s tax returns breaks with past IRS practices. It is in the public interest to know just how unprecedented it is for a Treasury Secretary to stonewall a congressional subpoena like this.