Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin properly followed department protocols when he refused to turn over President Trump’s tax returns to Congress, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General’s Office said Friday.
In a memo to Congressional Democrats, Deputy Inspector General Richard K. Delmar said Mr. Mnuchin’s response to subpoenas from the House Ways and Means Committee “were consistent” with the Treasury Department’s process for handling Congressional correspondence.
Mr. Delmar said that Mr. Mnuchin’s actions correctly followed an opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Justice Department lawyers in June 2019 wrote an opinion that House Democrats’ demands for Mr. Trump’s tax returns should be rebuffed because they did not serve a legitimate “legislative purpose.”
“We do not presume to opine on the analysis and conclusions of the OLC opinion and advice. We report the Treasury decision to conform to that advice and do not have a basis to question that decision,” he wrote in the two-page memo.
Attorneys on Mr. Delmar’s team interviewed eight Treasury officials and reviewed officials’ emails, according to the memo. Much of the investigation was focused on the actions in the Treasury’s Office of General Counsel.
The opinion is a blow to House Democrats who have invoked a 1924 law they say gives the heads of Congressional tax committees the power to review anyone’s private tax returns.
In April 2019, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Massachusetts Democrat, demanded the IRS turn over six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns.
The Treasury and IRS rebuffed the request as well as repeated subpoenas sent by Mr. Neal.
Mr. Neal responded by filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration last year. The case has yet to be resolved.
With all other options exhausted, Mr. Neal last fall requested the inspector general review the Treasury’s actions, saying he wanted to be sure the IRS was enforcing the law “in a fair and impartial manner.”
“Chairman Neal maintains the law is on his side and believes his request should be granted,” the lawmaker’s spokeswoman said in a statement.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, publicly released the report after he had also requested the memo.
In a statement accompanying the release, Mr. Grassley said the memo “should put to bed any question about the Treasury Department’s handling of this matter.”
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the committee’s ranking Democrat, slammed the report, saying it has “no factual basis for its conclusion.”
“The Inspector General’s review falls far short, taking the word of Treasury Department officials that they did nothing wrong at face value and dismissing contradictory interviews,” he said.
“This is a serous matter that deserved a much more thorough investigation,” Mr. Wyden continued.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady of Texas, said the report exonerates Mr. Trump and his administration of mishandling the tax records subpoena.
“This report by the inspector general proves that earlier politically motivated accusations are debunked — Secretary Mnuchin followed the law, complied with all requests, and there is proper oversight taking place at Treasury,” he said in a statement.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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