Judge delivers blow to Donald Trump’s quest to shield his tax returns – By Jon Campbell (USA Today) / Nov 11 2019
ALBANY – A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims against a pair of New York officials after the state approved a law earlier this year allowing Congress to request copies of Trump’s state tax returns.
The ruling Monday from U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said Trump could not challenge New York’s Attorney General Letitia James and Tax Commissioner Michael Schmidt in federal court in Washington D.C., where Nichols is based and the suit was filed.
The ruling, however, allows Trump the option of refiling the lawsuit in New York or after Congress makes a formal request for his tax returns, meaning the legal battle is likely to continue.
And it also allowed Trump to continue to challenge the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the three congressional committees allowed by the state law to request his taxes, in hopes of blocking it from requesting his taxes from the state.
“Mr. Trump may renew his claims against the New York Defendants should future events trigger one or more provisions of the D.C. long-arm statute, and he may, of course, sue either New York Defendant in another forum (presumably in New York),” Nichols wrote.
The decision marked the second time within a week that federal courts have ruled against Trump’s legal efforts to shield his tax returns and financial records from public scrutiny.
Continue to article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/11/donald-trump-tax-return-lawsuit-dismissed-by-judge/2567017001/
