US Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Request to Halt Release of Tax Returns to Congress

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Supreme Court rejected former President Donald Trump's effort to block the House Committee on Ways and Means to obtain six years' worth of his tax returns, a court filing revealed on Tuesday.

The Tuesday ruling now allows House Democrats to try to obtain the tax documents before the Republican takeover of the lower congressional chamber before the new Congress is sworn in in January.

"The application for stay of the mandate presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied," the court filing read. "The order heretofore entered by The Chief Justice is vacated."

The ruling did not include any additional comment from justices.

The House committee has been trying to obtain Trump's tax records since 2019.

The three-year court battle began after committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) sought Trump's tax records as part of the committee's reviews into whether tax laws should be amended in regards to US presidents.

The US Department of Treasury had previously refused to provide the documents while Trump was in office; however, once US President Joe Biden came into office the incoming administration declared that federal law made clear the committee had a right to review the tax filings.

Tax returns are confidential under federal law but exceptions have been noted, such as in cases where the chairman of the committee issues a request for them.

The matter of Trump's taxes was brought before the Supreme Court in late October as part of an appeal filed by the former president. "No Congress has ever welded its legislative powers to demand a president's tax returns," the appeal read.

Chief Justice John Roberts earlier imposed a temporary freeze on the case on November 1 in order to give the high court time to weigh out the legal implications that had been raised by Trump's lawyers, as well as concerns voiced by committee members.

Although the tax case saw its start in 2019, calls for Trump to release his tax filings had started during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. As has become habit, presidential candidates have typically publicly released such documents.