U.S. Supreme Court clears way for lawmakers to get Trump's tax returns

 The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the release of Donald Trump's tax returns to a House of Representatives committee, handing a defeat to the Republican former president who had called the Democratic-led panel's request politically motivated.


The justices denied Trump's Oct. 31 emergency application to block a lower court's ruling that upheld the Ways and Means Committee's request for his tax records as a justified part of the panel's legislative work. No justice publicly dissented from the decision.

The committee, which has sought six years of Trump's tax records spanning 2015 to 2020, will have little time to complete its work related to the returns before a Republican takeover of the House. Republicans secured a narrow majority following the Nov. 8 midterm elections and take control of the House - and the committee - in January.

Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said the Supreme Court's action upholds the principle of congressional oversight.

"This rises above politics, and the committee will now conduct the oversight that we've sought for the last three and a half years," Neal said in a statement.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Trump was the first president in four decades years not to release his tax returns as he sought to keep secret the details of his wealth and the activities of his real estate company, the Trump Organization.

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