Judging Freedom - House Asks SCOTUS Not to Delay Request for Trump’s Tax Returns

Episode Date: November 11, 2022

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Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Friday, November 11th, 2022, Veterans Day. It's about 3.55 in the afternoon here on the east coast of the United States. We are expecting any minute now a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States on whether the Department of the Treasury must surrender the tax returns of former President Donald Trump to the House Ways and Means Committee. Well, doesn't that ring a bell? Yes, this fight has been going on since 2017. And every judge that has ruled on this, two federal district court judges, 11 federal appellate court judges, and finally an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. The appeal was filed by Trump's lawyers last week. The government's papers were filed yesterday. The Supreme Court has a conference on Friday afternoons on these and will decide whether or not it's going to take the case.

If it takes the case, then the Treasury Department will not be releasing the tax returns. If it doesn't take the case and it accepts the decisions below, you have 15 different federal judges below. They all rule the same way. Then the Treasury Department will surrender those tax returns. Now, what right does Congress have to see the tax returns of any citizen, of any tax filer? Good question. There's a statute, it's an FDR-era statute that says the Treasury shall surrender, not may, but shall surrender the tax returns of any tax filer upon a proper request by the Congress. This was enacted in an era where it was widely perceived that politicians weren't paying any federal income taxes

or very rich bankers that were friends of the president weren't paying any income taxes. And FDR signed the law into existence. And then in order to prevent the Congress from getting his taxes and publishing them, he published his taxes on his own. And that started the trend of every president, every president since FDR releasing his tax returns. Donald Trump, of course, chose not to do that, which is his prerogative. Taxes and tax returns are private.

They're between the taxpayer and the IRS. Well, the House of Representatives wanted these tax returns because of a belief that foreign governments were paying Donald Trump for certain services while he was president, not in the form of bribery, but in the form of exaggerated and inflated hotel rates at his various hotels. Yes, that problem is still around or that allegation is still around. So after losing before all these federal judges, Trump decided to give it a shot before the Supreme Court. The appeal ended up on the desk and in the chambers of Justice Clarence Thomas, who said, I'm going to stop the effect of the decision below for 10 days until the Supreme Court rules. Well, the 10th day is Monday. So Trump's lawyers filed their emergency appeal.

The DOJ answered yesterday. The Supreme Court had its conference today. So it could announce at five o'clock Eastern today, whether this is going to happen or at 10 o'clock Monday morning, more likely, I think, what's going to happen. What's going to happen will either be we're going to take the case and rule on the merits, in which case we won't rule until the spring, when the Republicans probably will be in control of the House of Representatives, or we're not going to take the case and the orders below are not stayed and the Treasury Department will comply with those orders below. One way or another, it's going to go.

What do I think? I don't think it's any of the Congress's business what anybody's income tax returns say. But that's not the law. The law is pretty clear. It's a tough thing when you're a judge and you have to enforce a law that you think is wrong. But your job is not to be a second or a super legislature. Your job is to interpret the laws that the legislative branch has written and decide whether or not it applies in a given case. Okay, when the court rules, we'll tell you about it, whether it's this afternoon or Monday. If you don't see this face until Monday, this face wishes you a happy weekend. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.