Mnuchin reveals White House lawyers consulted Treasury on Trump tax returns, despite law meant to limit political involvement
By Damian Paletta April 9 at 10:53 AM
Treasury Department lawyers consulted with the White House general counsel’s office about the potential release of President Trump’s tax returns before House Democrats formally requested the records, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.
Mnuchin had not previously revealed that the White House was playing any official role in the Treasury Department’s decision on releasing Trump’s tax returns.
Democrats are asking for six years of Trump’s returns, using a federal law that says the treasury secretary “shall follow” the request of House or Senate chairmen in releasing tax return information. The process is designed to be walled off from White House interference, in part because of corruption that took place during the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s.
Mnuchin revealed the discussions during a congressional hearing. He said he had not personally spoken with anyone from the White House about the tax returns, but he said that members of his team had done so.
“I believe that the communication between our legal department and the White House general counsel was informational,” Mnuchin told a House appropriations subcommittee. “We had obviously read in the press that we were expecting this. I personally wasn’t involved in those conversations.”
Mnuchin added that he was never briefed on the content of the discussions.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-treasury-lawyers-discussed-trumps-tax-returns-before-democrats-request-mnuchin-says/2019/04/09/9693618e-5ad2-11e9-842d-7d3ed7eb3957_story.html?utm_term=.fc7ca718ccef&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
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