A federal judge ruled Monday that his court did not have jurisdiction to hear President Donald Trump's lawsuit over his New York state tax returns. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Monday dismissed lawsuit by President Donald Trump to stop the House Ways and Means Committee from obtaining state tax returns under a law recently enacted by New York.

Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee on the U.s. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case based on lack of jurisdiction. It remains possible Trump could file a similar suit in New York state.


Trump filed his suit in July to block the House committee from accessing his New York state tax returns two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law allowing the state to share information with the U.S. Congress.

The suit names New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New York's tax chief, Michael Schmidt. Trump had sued to block James from enforcing the new law and block Schmidt from providing the documents.

The president had accused House Democrats of wanting to embarrass him and asked the federal court to declare that the House committee "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose" to obtain his state tax returns.

"Based on the current allegations, Mr. Trump has not met his burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over either of the New York defendants," Judge Nichols wrote.

Nichols added that Trump did not sufficiently establish a conspiracy between the committee and New York defendants that would have strengthened his case for a lawsuit in Washington, D.C.

"We are reviewing the opinion," Trump's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement Monday.

The lawsuit represents one of several court battles over Trump's tax returns.

"The case against the Ways and Means Committee proceeds in federal court," Sekulow said, referring to a separate suit in which the House Ways and Means Committee is seeking six years of Trump's federal tax returns.

A week ago, a federal appellate court ruled that Trump's tax returns are not immune from subpoena in a separate suit involving Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who wants eight years of records for his investigation into hush money payments he says Trump paid to keep extramarital affairs secret.

Sekulow said after federal appellate court ruling that he wants to take that case to the U.S. Supreme Court next.