At this point, Donald Trump’s abject refusal to release his tax returns has become something of a running joke. “Trump is so scared of the Mueller report being made public, you’d think it was his tax return,” Stephen Colbert joked on Twitter this week. And yet, growing evidence suggests the president may have just as much—or more—to fear from making his finances public as he does from Robert Mueller. Late Thursday, The New York Times reported that the president called on Mitch McConnell to fast-track the confirmation of Michael Desmond, his nominee for chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, indicating that he considered it an even higher priority than the confirmation of Attorney General William Barr, who would go on to clear him of collusion and obstruction. While part of the reason presumably involved his sweeping tax legislation, the Times reported, Trump might have had an ulterior motive in insisting on a speedy confirmation for Desmond: a looming battle with House Democrats over his elusive tax returns.

Democrats took control of the House this year with promises to launch and re-invigorate sweeping investigations into the president and his administration. Chief among their interests? Trump’s taxes, which the president has claimed are under audit (a status that would not, in fact, prevent their release). Why such a successful, above-board businessman would be so resistant to publicizing his finances is anyone’s guess, but Trump’s push this year to get Desmond confirmed came just as Democrats were ramping up their efforts to obtain the documents, which they formally requested on Thursday.

“It is critical to ensure the accountability of our government and elected officials,” Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement after calling on the I.R.S. to release six years of the president’s personal and business tax documents. “To maintain trust in our democracy, the American people must be assured that their government is operating properly, as laws intend.”

While lawmakers have the legal authority to make the ask, Trump and his allies are already fighting back. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused Democrats of playing “political games,” and Senator Chuck Grassley said the request was driven by Democrats’ “intense dislike of this president” and “frustration over losing an election they thought that they’d easily win.” Trump, who has characterized investigations into him and those in his inner circle as “presidential harassment,” teased an upcoming legal battle. “They’ll speak to my lawyers,” he told reporters on Thursday. “They’ll speak to the attorney general.”

This approach, of course, was more or less expected. “I expect him to fight back tooth and nail on this. I think that he will get his lawyers out to do everything they can to block the request,” Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer and one of the few people who’s seen Trump’s tax returns, told my colleague Abigail Tracy in December. “I think he’ll then find other avenues to try to, at a minimum, slow it down, but certainly his preference would be to block it entirely.”

Democrats, for their part, seem ready to weather the storm. Neal had been under pressure for months to make the request, but had resisted, reportedly to first ensure his legal case was sound. Neal has given the I.R.S. until April 10 to provide the documents. Should the administration reject the request, the Ways and Means Committee has also reportedly prepared a subpoena. It’s not clear if Trump thinks Desmond, who advised the Trump Organization on at least one tax matter in the past, and who was confirmed in February, could somehow protect him against Democratic oversight. But such a viewpoint wouldn’t be out of character for the president, who has indicated over and over again that he believes his Cabinet’s top priority should be to protect him.

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