Federal court rules that House committee can access Trump’s tax records

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., lauded the appeals court's "long-anticipated" opinion Tuesday. Neal first requested copies of Trump's federal tax returns in April 2019, a request the Treasury Department initially refused.

“With great patience, we followed the judicial process, and yet again, our position has been affirmed by the Courts," Neal said in a statement. "When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program.”

"The Chairman has identified a legitimate legislative purpose that it requires information to accomplish," the appeals court ruling says. "At this stage, it is not our place to delve deeper than this. The mere fact that individual members of Congress may have political motivations as well as legislative ones is of no moment. Indeed, it is likely rare that an individual member of Congress would work for a legislative purpose without considering the political implications."