Trump Asks Court to Block Release of Tax Returns

The legal wrangling over Donald Trump's tax returns outlasted his presidency—and it appears set to continue for much of President Biden's administration. Trump's lawyers have asked a federal court to permanently block the Treasury Department from handing his tax returns over to investigators and order an end to the House Ways and Means Committee investigations of Trump and his companies, CNN reports. In a memo Friday, the Justice Department, reversing its Trump-era position, said the committee had "invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President's tax information" and told the Treasury to provide the tax returns as requested.

In a 37-page filing Wednesday, Trump's lawyers argued that the committee's requests were "not valid oversight requests" and the real goal "is to expose the private tax information of one individual—President Trump—for political gain, " NPR reports. The lawyers argued that Trump is being targeted because he is a Republican, and "because of his policy positions, his political beliefs, and his protected speech." The Trump request is being reviewed by federal judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee. A three-day hold has been placed to prevent the IRS from turning over the returns immediately; analysts believe the legal battles that will need to play out before the committee can potentially receive the returns will take months, if not years. (More Donald Trump stories.)