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| Mnuchin Says White House and Treasury Discussed Trump Tax Return Request | Mnuchin Says White House and Treasury Discussed Trump Tax Return Request |
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| WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Tuesday that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department about a congressional request for President Trump’s tax returns but said he had not personally spoken to Mr. Trump or those lawyers about how the matter was being handled. | WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Tuesday that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department about a congressional request for President Trump’s tax returns but said he had not personally spoken to Mr. Trump or those lawyers about how the matter was being handled. |
| Mr. Mnuchin’s disclosure is the first public acknowledgment of communication between the White House and the Treasury Department related to Mr. Trump’s tax returns. It comes as the president has made clear he has no intention of handing over his personal financial records without a fight. | |
| Mr. Mnuchin, in testimony on Tuesday before two congressional committees, acknowledged that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department before the formal request was made last week. But he said that he had not been briefed on those discussions and described them as “informational.” | |
| “Our legal department has had conversations prior to receiving the letter with the White House general counsel,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “I acknowledge there were conversations. I am not briefed on the full extent of those conversations.” | “Our legal department has had conversations prior to receiving the letter with the White House general counsel,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “I acknowledge there were conversations. I am not briefed on the full extent of those conversations.” |
| During a marathon set of hearings that lasted more than four hours, Mr. Mnuchin parried multiple questions about how he would handle a request for the president’s taxes. Mr. Mnuchin both defended Mr. Trump’s right to keep his tax returns private and tried to assure lawmakers that he would not allow politics to interfere with Treasury’s decision about whether to provide the records to Congress. Democrats appeared largely unsatisfied, at one point questioning Mr. Mnuchin about whether he was putting his job security before his legal obligations. | |
| “It is our intent to follow the law,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “It is being reviewed by the legal departments and we look forward to responding to the letter.” | “It is our intent to follow the law,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “It is being reviewed by the legal departments and we look forward to responding to the letter.” |
| “I am not afraid of being fired at all,” he added. | |
| Still, Mr. Mnuchin suggested he believed that Congress was overreaching its authority and defended Mr. Trump’s right not to release his tax returns. | Still, Mr. Mnuchin suggested he believed that Congress was overreaching its authority and defended Mr. Trump’s right not to release his tax returns. |
| “The general public when they elected President Trump made the decision to elect him without his tax returns being released,” Mr. Mnuchin said, adding that the president complied with requirements to release a financial disclosure form. | “The general public when they elected President Trump made the decision to elect him without his tax returns being released,” Mr. Mnuchin said, adding that the president complied with requirements to release a financial disclosure form. |
| Mr. Mnuchin said it would be “premature” to comment on how his agency would respond to the formal request by House Democrats for six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns. | Mr. Mnuchin said it would be “premature” to comment on how his agency would respond to the formal request by House Democrats for six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns. |
| The request for Mr. Trump’s tax returns is putting Mr. Mnuchin, one of his most loyal aides, at the center of what is shaping up to be an extraordinary legal battle between two branches of government. | |
| A decision on whether to hand over the financial records is expected to fall to the Internal Revenue Service and Mr. Mnuchin, whose Treasury Department oversees the tax collection agency. While Mr. Mnuchin has been fairly cautious in discussing the request, Mr. Trump and his top advisers have made it increasingly clear that they will not allow the president’s tax returns to be released without a fight. | A decision on whether to hand over the financial records is expected to fall to the Internal Revenue Service and Mr. Mnuchin, whose Treasury Department oversees the tax collection agency. While Mr. Mnuchin has been fairly cautious in discussing the request, Mr. Trump and his top advisers have made it increasingly clear that they will not allow the president’s tax returns to be released without a fight. |
| On Friday, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer asserted Mr. Trump’s right as a citizen to keep his tax returns private and told the Treasury Department not to hand the returns over to House Democrats. | |
| Mr. Mnuchin said that he believed it was “appropriate” for the Treasury and White House legal departments to have spoken generally about a potential request, but he emphasized that he would not be taking direction from the president on the decision. | |
| “We would not ever ask for the White House’s permission on this, nor did they give us permission,” Mr. Mnuchin said. | “We would not ever ask for the White House’s permission on this, nor did they give us permission,” Mr. Mnuchin said. |
| His statement that the White House had reached out to Treasury about the congressional request sent Democratic aides scrambling to assess whether those conversations represented political interference and violated the law. | His statement that the White House had reached out to Treasury about the congressional request sent Democratic aides scrambling to assess whether those conversations represented political interference and violated the law. |
| But Lawrence B. Gibbs, a former I.R.S. commissioner and counsel during the Nixon administration, said he was aware of no legal statute that prohibited such dialogue. | |
| Mr. Mnuchin’s turn in the spotlight comes at a delicate moment for him. One of the longest-serving members of the president’s cabinet, he has been dogged in recent weeks by questions over his financial ties to the film industry, as well as questions surrounding the Treasury Department’s removal of sanctions against three companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch. Mr. Mnuchin has also been at the center of Mr. Trump’s growing frustration with the Federal Reserve, which he publicly blames for slowing American economic growth. Mr. Trump has aimed much of his criticism at the Fed chairman, Jerome H. Powell, whom the president installed to the top job on the recommendation of Mr. Mnuchin. | |
| Mr. Mnuchin’s handling of the matter will be watched closely by Mr. Trump, who has kept his tax returns closely guarded despite promises as a candidate to eventually release them. Democrats are using a little-noticed provision of the tax code to request the documents, and the Trump administration has asserted that those efforts are outside the bounds of congressional authority and that the request is nothing more than political harassment. Last week, Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, who leads the House Ways and Means Committee, requested that the I.R.S. hand over six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns. | |
| “The Democrats will never be satisfied, no matter what they get, how much they get, or how many pages they get,” Mr. Trump said on Monday in a Twitter post. “It will never end, but that’s the way life goes!” | |
| Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, said over the weekend that Democrats would “never” obtain the president’s taxes and called their efforts “a political hit job.” | Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, said over the weekend that Democrats would “never” obtain the president’s taxes and called their efforts “a political hit job.” |
| Mr. Mnuchin suggested that an attempt to obtain tax returns for political purposes could ultimately harm both parties and give lawmakers discretion to obtain financial records of political enemies. Mr. Mnuchin noted that Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, who was the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means committee during the Obama administration, did not make such requests. | Mr. Mnuchin suggested that an attempt to obtain tax returns for political purposes could ultimately harm both parties and give lawmakers discretion to obtain financial records of political enemies. Mr. Mnuchin noted that Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, who was the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means committee during the Obama administration, did not make such requests. |
| “I am sure there are many prominent Democrats who are relieved that when Kevin Brady was chairman of the committee that he didn’t request specific returns,” Mr. Mnuchin said. | “I am sure there are many prominent Democrats who are relieved that when Kevin Brady was chairman of the committee that he didn’t request specific returns,” Mr. Mnuchin said. |
| As Mr. Mnuchin’s second hearing of the day drifted past 5 p.m., he erupted in frustration at Representative Maxine Waters, who oversees the House Financial Services Committee, saying he needed to go so he could attend a meeting with an official from Bahrain. | |
| When Ms. Waters refused to conclude the hearing and said he could leave if he wished, Mr. Mnuchin advised her to use her gavel and dismiss him. | When Ms. Waters refused to conclude the hearing and said he could leave if he wished, Mr. Mnuchin advised her to use her gavel and dismiss him. |
| “If you wish to keep me here so that I don’t have my important meeting and continue to grill me, then we can do that,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “I will cancel my meeting and I will not be back here. I will be very clear, if that’s the way you would like to have this relationship.” | |
| Mr. Mnuchin and the I.R.S. have until the end of Wednesday to comply with Mr. Neal’s request, based on a deadline the lawmaker outlined last week. What comes next depends on their answer. The Treasury secretary told reporters after the hearing that it would be a “good guess” that his department would respond to the request by the deadline. | |
| If the I.R.S. complies, Mr. Neal is unlikely to immediately say anything else to the public. If the agency objects to the request or does not answer, Mr. Neal could press his case and warn the agency that House Democrats will view not handing over the documents as a violation of the law. | If the I.R.S. complies, Mr. Neal is unlikely to immediately say anything else to the public. If the agency objects to the request or does not answer, Mr. Neal could press his case and warn the agency that House Democrats will view not handing over the documents as a violation of the law. |
| At that point, Mr. Neal is likely to turn to the courts to try to enforce his request, teeing off a legal battle that could take months or years to sort out and could wind up at the Supreme Court. | At that point, Mr. Neal is likely to turn to the courts to try to enforce his request, teeing off a legal battle that could take months or years to sort out and could wind up at the Supreme Court. |
| Charles Rettig, the I.R.S. commissioner, under questioning by Democrats in another House hearing room, did his best to avoid divulging internal deliberations over Mr. Neal’s request, but said that he and the I.R.S. general counsel had been “interactive” with the Treasury Department in sorting out how to respond. He did not clearly state who he believed should have a say in the outcome. | Charles Rettig, the I.R.S. commissioner, under questioning by Democrats in another House hearing room, did his best to avoid divulging internal deliberations over Mr. Neal’s request, but said that he and the I.R.S. general counsel had been “interactive” with the Treasury Department in sorting out how to respond. He did not clearly state who he believed should have a say in the outcome. |
| “There was a discussion about who is going to handle the response,” Mr. Rettig said. “There is no conclusion on that.” | “There was a discussion about who is going to handle the response,” Mr. Rettig said. “There is no conclusion on that.” |
| Mr. Rettig said he was not aware of anyone at the I.R.S. having communicated with the White House about the matter. | Mr. Rettig said he was not aware of anyone at the I.R.S. having communicated with the White House about the matter. |
| While Mr. Mnuchin might try to defer a decision on Mr. Trump’s taxes to the department’s lawyers, he may ultimately have to weigh in. | While Mr. Mnuchin might try to defer a decision on Mr. Trump’s taxes to the department’s lawyers, he may ultimately have to weigh in. |
| Former I.R.S. officials have suggested that privacy will be Mr. Mnuchin’s strongest argument and that the administration will probably look to undercut the nature of the House Democrats’ request for the returns as part of the committee’s oversight of “the extent to which the I.R.S. audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a president.” | Former I.R.S. officials have suggested that privacy will be Mr. Mnuchin’s strongest argument and that the administration will probably look to undercut the nature of the House Democrats’ request for the returns as part of the committee’s oversight of “the extent to which the I.R.S. audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a president.” |
| Mr. Gibbs noted that the provision Democrats were using to seek Mr. Trump’s returns was drafted when the tax code was being rewritten to improve protection of taxpayer privacy. Despite the language in the code, which appears to clearly give Congress the power to access anyone’s tax returns, a request that is political in nature could ultimately be shot down by the Supreme Court. | Mr. Gibbs noted that the provision Democrats were using to seek Mr. Trump’s returns was drafted when the tax code was being rewritten to improve protection of taxpayer privacy. Despite the language in the code, which appears to clearly give Congress the power to access anyone’s tax returns, a request that is political in nature could ultimately be shot down by the Supreme Court. |
| “This goes way beyond the president,” Mr. Gibbs said. “If our politicians, at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, can obtain taxpayer information, taxpayers have to wonder if there really is confidentiality anymore.” | “This goes way beyond the president,” Mr. Gibbs said. “If our politicians, at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, can obtain taxpayer information, taxpayers have to wonder if there really is confidentiality anymore.” |