In what has never seemed like a shady move, Donald Trump has refused to make the last several years of his infamous tax returns public. Surely the famously honest former president has nothing to hide. But all good things come to an end, and after six long years of hiding his business dealings, the powers-that-be — including a few of his personal appointees — have declared the tax return-hording party is over.
As per The New York Times, the right-leaning Supreme Court has refused Trump’s most recent request to block access to his tax returns. That clears the path for the Democratic wing of the House, in the last month-and-a-half that they control it, to get their mitts on documents that may prove damning to the only Republican currently running for president in 2024.
There were no dissents from the bench, not even from the three justices he himself appointed. NYT described their order as “terse.”
The House committee has been seeking the big guy’s tax returns from the Treasury Department since 2019. Instead they’ve found Trump and his legal team using their usual drag-it-out methods. For instance, the case was assigned to a Trump-appointed judge, who didn’t make a ruling until December 2021. When the Trump judge ruled the committee did have the right to see his returns, but blocked the Treasury Department from releasing them until a D.C. Court of Appeals reviewed the decision — which they didn’t until this past August.
That court did allow the House to see the returns, only for Trump to reach out to the Supreme Court. That worked, at least for a bit: Justice John G. Roberts granted a temporary block in early November. Mere weeks later, that block has been overturned.
Trump clearly though appointing a whopping three justices to the highest court of the land would allow him to get away with anything. They didn’t, even as they’ve wreaked all manner of other havoc. Anyway, we’re sure that Trump is taking the news well.
(Via NYT)