The tax returns of former US President Donald Trump, who has always refused to make them public, must be sent to a congressional committee, the US Department of Justice ordered on Friday.
Donald Trump, who made his fortune a campaign argument, refused to publish his tax returns.
The tax returns of former President Donald Trump, who has always refused to make them public, must be sent to a congressional committee, the US Department of Justice ordered on Friday.
A committee of the House of Representatives which deals with budgetary questions "presented sufficient reasons to request the fiscal data of the former president and the Treasury must provide him with this information", estimates the ministry in a memorandum.
Lack of transparency
Unlike all his predecessors since the 1970s, Donald Trump, who has made his fortune a campaign argument, refuses to publish his tax returns.
Its lack of transparency fuels speculation on the extent of its wealth or on potential conflicts of interest.
To try to find out more, three committees of the House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, had asked in 2019 the accounting firm Mazars, but also the banks Deutsche Bank and Capital One, a whole series of financial documents relating to the business. of Donald Trump between 2010 and 2018, and those of his relatives.
The “Ways and Means” commission, to which the ministry's memorandum relates, more specifically calls for six years of tax declarations within the framework of its power to audit tax services.
At the same time, Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance also claimed Donald Trump's financial records as part of an investigation into possible violations of New York laws.
"A victory for the rule of law"
Arguing about his presidential immunity and the separation of powers, Donald Trump had fought on all these fronts, going twice to the Supreme Court which, in February, authorized the transmission of certain documents to the new justice system. Yorker.
As the investigation takes place behind closed doors, this information remains protected by secrecy.
He could again present appeals to oppose the order of the Ministry of Justice but his intentions were not known on Friday.
Without waiting to know them, the Democratic President of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi hailed "a victory for the rule of law".
"Americans deserve to know the facts about his troubling conflicts of interest which, under his presidency, have undermined our security and our democracy," she said in a statement.