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President Donald Trump has hired a law firm to fight congressional efforts to see his income tax returns.
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In a letter Friday to Treasury Department General Counsel Brent McIntosh, lawyer William Consovoy argued the House Ways and Means Committee has no “legitimate committee purpose” for seeking the president’s returns. The Consovoy McCarthy Park attorney also argues the Treasury would set “set a dangerous precedent” by releasing the returns.
“It would be a gross abuse of power for the majority party to use tax returns as a weapon to attack, harass and intimidate their political opponents. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, the ensuing tit-for-tat will do lasting damage to our nation,” Consovoy wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.
The letter escalates the legal dispute between the White House and House Democrats, who formally requested the president’s tax returns on Wednesday evening. Trump, who came into office in 2017 still owning sprawling global business holdings, did not release his returns during the 2016 election, breaking with decades of precedent.