Trump Tax-Return Judge Suggests House Democrats Narrow Case

(Bloomberg) -- The judge overseeing the congressional lawsuit seeking President Donald Trump's tax returns said he would be “interested” in moving the case forward if House Democrats conceded one argument that is expected to be the subject of further appeals.

At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden suggested Democrats focus their case on the argument that they are entitled to the president's returns under the tax code and abandon a claim based on subpoena powers that were called into question by a federal appeals court's dismissal last week of another congressional suit seeking the testimony of former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

McFadden said he was not interested in deciding the two arguments “piecemeal,” noting that House Democrats have already said they will appeal the McGahn ruling to the full appeals court. The 2-1 majority in the McGahn case said the judiciary lacked the jurisdiction to decide a dispute between the executive and legislative branches.

“We have a moving ball over there on McGahn,” said McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017. The judge asked both Democrats and the White House to agree by March 12 on how the case should move forward.

Further appeals in the McGahn case could drag on for months, and a lawyer for House Democrats told McFadden the case should be expedited.

“This is a pressing investigation,” the lawyer, Josephine Morse, said. “The clock is running out on this Congress.”

But she also suggested Democrats were unwilling to concede one of their arguments. They claim they are entitled to the president's returns both under Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, which says the chairmen of the congressional tax committees can access any taxpayer's filings, and their subpoena power.

David Michael Morrell, a lawyer at the Department of Justice representing the Trump administration, said the tax-return case should be halted until the McGahn appeals are exhausted.

The case is Committee on Ways and Means v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 19-cv-1974, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Davison in Washington at ldavison4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Anthony Lin

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.