Judge rules Congress can get some Trump tax records related to D.C. hotel lease, gifts
A federal judge Wednesday ruled that Congress could get access to two years of former President Donald Trump's tax records, limiting a far broader House panel's demand as part of a long-running inquiry into Trump's financial disclosures.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ordered that Trump's accounting firm provide the documents relating to the former president's D.C. hotel lease lease with the U.S. General Services Administration and to determine whether Trump violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause.
The anti-corruption provision prohibits federal officeholders from accepting things of value from state and foreign governments.
In rejecting the broader demand for Trump's documents to determine the need for new financial disclosure legislation, Mehta described the legislative need as "relatively incremental" and represented "only a limited need" for Trump's records.
More: Trump's tax returns can be released to Congress, Justice Department says
"The more Congress can invade the personal sphere of a former President, the greater the leverage Congress would have on a sitting President," Mehta wrote, calling the subpoena for eight years of documents "undeniably broad."
"And the greater the leverage, the greater the improper institutional advantage Congress would possess over a co-equal branch of government."
But Mehta, referring to the case that has made a "roundtrip through the federal judiciary,", found that Trump's continuing financial interest in his namesake Trump International Hotel in D.C., as president, was more than fair game for committee scrutiny.
"By freely contracting with GSA for his own private economic gain, and by not divesting upon taking office, President Trump opened himself up to potential scrutiny from the very Committee whose jurisdiction includes the 'management of government operations and activities, including Federal procurement,' " Mehta wrote. "That he happened to occupy the presidency for some portion of his (continuing) lease does nothing to change that fact."