(Washington) A US federal judge on Tuesday rejected a request by former President Donald Trump to block his tax return, court documents show.
The decision by Washington court judge Trevor McFadden – who was appointed president during Donald Trump’s presidency – is a major setback for Donald Trump, who has struggled to keep his tax account public despite promising to do so in the 2016 election campaign.
According to the former Republican president, the demand for access from the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is discriminatory.
Richard Neal, an elected Democrat, wanted to discuss the tax file of parliamentary committee chairman Donald Trump, saying the judge’s decision was “not surprising”.
“The Law Commission’s side is clear,” he said.
In August, the Department of Justice ordered the U.S. Treasury to provide a parliamentary committee with six years of tax documents on the millionaire Donald Trump refused to release.
U.S. presidents have no legal obligation to disclose their personal financial details, but so have residents of every White House since Richard Nixon in the 1970s. Other than Mr. Trump.
The Parliamentary Committee has the right to make tax returns public, but there is also a cautionary note in Judge Trevor McFadden’s judgment.
“The issuance of tax returns may or may not be appropriate, but it is the prerogative of the President (Commission) to do so,” the magistrate underlined.
