A court case could test the limits of Congress’ oversight authority, amid the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with other probes. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Finance & Tax Democrats appear headed straight to court for Trump's tax returns

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal indicated Tuesday that Democrats would go straight to federal court to try to force the administration to give up President Donald Trump’s tax returns, skipping a subpoena or a contempt vote.

“There doesn’t have to be any intermediary step. They seem not to be paying a lot of attention to the subpoenas, so take it from there,” Neal (D-Mass.) told reporters, adding that he’d have a response by the end of this week to the rejection of his request for the returns.


Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday shot down Neal’s request for six years’ worth of Trump’s personal returns and some of his business filings. Mnuchin told Neal that, relying on Justice Department advice, he determined that the request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose,” so Treasury isn’t “authorized” to disclose the returns.

Neal, in his fullest comments since Mnuchin’s decision, said: “That’s what a federal judge will decide. We think the law is unambiguous.”

Democrats have said they want the returns to examine the IRS’ long-standing policy of automatically auditing all presidents and vice presidents, since they don’t know how rigorous the examinations are. But they've also been open about wanting to examine the returns for any malfeasance, and that they may try to make them public.

A court case could test the limits of Congress’ oversight authority, amid the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with other probes.

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Democrats have cited a law that says the Treasury secretary “shall” provide the heads of Congress’ tax writing committees with returns when they request them. Mnuchin, in turn, has pointed to court rulings that lawmakers need a legitimate policy reason for their investigations.

Some Democrats have said that Mnuchin should be held in contempt of Congress. Neal said that “hasn’t been discussed at the moment. Technically the custodian of the records is the IRS commissioner so that’s where we’re proceeding.”

Asked whether IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, who was the recipient of Neal's request for the returns, could be held in contempt, Neal also said that hadn’t been discussed.

Trump bucked decades of tradition by refusing to release his tax returns before or after the 2016 election. But bits and pieces of his tax picture, dating back decades, have leaked out.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that it obtained tax information showing Trump lost over $1 billion between 1985 and 1994, allowing him to avoid paying income taxes for most of that time.

The information shows a period of financial turmoil and soured investments. The records do not concern the period of tax returns requested by House Democrats, but they counter the image the president has cultivated of being a highly successful and self-made businessman. The Times reported that Trump lost more money than nearly any other individual U.S. taxpayer those years.

Kyle Cheney, Aaron Lorenzo and Matthew Choi contributed to this report.