Ronald P. Fischetti, former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, is blasting a recent legal opinion from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that said the Treasury Department must turn over six years of the former president’s tax returns to Congress.
In a statement on Monday, Fischetti said, “As counsel to the former President, I must comment on the Treasury Department’s intention to release Mr. Trump’s tax returns to Congress. In my long career of practicing law I have never seen anything like this.”
“This politicization and harassment of Mr. Trump is uncalled for and outrageous. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here and I object to the release of the returns not only on behalf of my client but on behalf of all future holders of the Office of the President of the United States. Is no one safe? The Democrats are doing this in an attempt to degrade Mr. Trump and it is a disgrace,” he continued.
Finally, he said, “With respect to his tax returns, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, on a prior occasion, refused to authorize the release and ruled that the Democrats lacked a ‘legitimate legislative purpose’ and that it was politically motivated. What’s changed? This has been ongoing for years. Enough is enough.”
Read the statement below:
Inbox: Ronald P. Fischetti, Trump's personal attorney, responds to @npfandos and my story from Friday. https://t.co/Bk5Otm8yEM pic.twitter.com/S7mBKhjiAb
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) August 2, 2021Is it 'outrageous' to turn over Trump's tax returns?
On Friday, the DOJ issued a memo that directed the Treasury Department to turn over six years of Trump’s tax returns to Congress, as IJR reported.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen wrote in a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that, “The statute at issue here is unambiguous: ‘Upon written request’ of the chairman of one of the three congressional tax committees, the Secretary ‘shall furnish’ the requested tax information to the Committee.”
The memo continued, “Applying the proper degree of deference due the Committee, we believe that there is ample basis to conclude that its June 2021 Request for former President Trump’s tax information would further the Committee’s principal stated objective of assessing the IRS’s presidential audit program—a plainly legitimate area for congressional inquiry and possible legislation.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised the decision saying that access to Trump’s tax returns is a “matter of national security.”
“The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president,” she added.
