A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to get President Trump to release his tax returns. The returns have been a weapon of the left who have argued against President Trump’s transparency.
According to The Hill:
A three-judge panel on the federal court of appeals in D.C. denied a non-profit’s attempt to force the IRS to release President Trump’s tax returns.
In an unanimous riling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said not all records can be accessed by the public through a Freedom of Information Act request and affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)’s lawsuit, which sought Trump’s income tax records.
“No one can demand to inspect another’s tax records,” Karen LeCraft Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, said in the court’s majority ruling.
“And the IRC [Internal Revenue Code]’s confidentiality protections extend to the ordinary taxpayer and the President alike.”
The court found that there was no rule to compel the IRS to disclose Trump’s tax returns and the only other option would be for Trump to give his consent. The consent route seems unlikely.
