Trump ordered McConnell to confirm ex-Trump Org lawyer as chief IRS counsel before Democrats got his tax returns: report

President Donald Trump was fixated on confirming an attorney who had once worked for him to a position at the Internal Revenue Service, The New York Times reported Thursday.

"President Trump earlier this year asked Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, to prioritize a confirmation vote for his nominee to be the chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, indicating that it was a higher priority than voting on the nomination of William P. Barr as attorney general," The Times reported, citing a person familiar with the conversation.

The nominee, Michael J. Desmond, had previously worked for the Trump Organization.

Desmond was confirmed to the post on February 27.

The request "raised questions about whether the president had other motivations. For months, the president has seethed over vows by congressional Democrats that they would move to obtain his tax returns from the I.R.S."

On Wednesday, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) officially requested six years of Trump's tax returns.