Trump hit with another loss in legal battle over his financial records -- this time from a judge he appointed
November 06, 2019
A federal judge has signaled that he will allow House Democrats to move forward with a lawsuit that seeks to obtain President Trump's tax returns, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, said this Wednesday that "Congress has been subpoenaing for a long time and the executive has been complying for a long time."
“There is a pretty strong line of cases there suggesting the House would have standing to bring this kind of case," he added.
The House Ways and Means Committee is seeking six years-worth of Trump's personal and business tax returns. In July, the House sued the Treasury Department to turn over the returns. The Treasury Department asked McFadden to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that House Democrats' reasons for wanting the returns weren't valid and that there was no precedent for turning them over.
According to House lawyer Megan Barbero, there’s been an “unprecedented refusal to comply with subpoenas in this administration."
"Bringing a civil case is a more orderly manner than sending the sergeant in arms to arrest a high-level government employee,” she added.
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