Nicolaus Czarnecki/ZUMA
The Trump administration leaks like a sieve. Here’s the latest:
A confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo says tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president takes the rare step of asserting executive privilege, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post. The memo contradicts the Trump administration’s justification for denying lawmakers’ request for President Trump’s tax returns, exposing fissures in the executive branch.
….According to the IRS memo, which has not been previously reported, the disclosure of tax returns to the committee “is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs.” The 10-page document says the law “does not allow the Secretary to exercise discretion in disclosing the information provided the statutory conditions are met” and directly rejects the reason Mnuchin has cited for withholding the information.
Meh. Your puny laws don’t apply to Mr. Trump. This is just the opinion of a bunch of pencil-necked deep-state lawyers, anyway. Trump much prefers the manly advice of his personal attorney, Bill Barr, who says he doesn’t have to give Congress anything.
