Judge Blocks New York From Turning Over Trump Tax Returns To Congress

A federal judge blocked New York state from turning over President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress on Thursday.

The order from Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, came in agreement to a proposal from the state that would allow it to challenge Nichols’ jurisdiction over the issue, Politico reported Thursday.

The order will block any House Ways and Means Committee requests for the tax returns via the New York law until the jurisdictional dispute is resolved.

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit on July 23 arguing New York violated the president’s constitutional rights when it law passed a law earlier in July that would give the majority Democrat House Ways and Means Committee access to the president’s state tax returns, according to Reuters.

Nichols said during a D.C. court hearing Wednesday that “Mr. Trump cannot suffer any harm” until the issue is resolved, the Washington Examiner reported.

“I continue to expect that while I have this under advisement actions won’t be taken to moot this,” the judge continued.

New York attorney Andrew Amer told Nichols on Wednesday that his clients think the D.C. court does not have authority over the case and he would try to move it elsewhere or have it dismissed entirely.

The order to block New York from turning over the president’s records is an alternative way around a different proposal from Trump that would require the majority Democratic House Ways and Means committee, a defendant in the lawsuit from the administration, to notify the court when making a request for the president’s records.

Another hearing will take place in Washington Aug. 29 to decide whether Nichols has jurisdiction over the New York officials named as defendants in the president’s lawsuit, according to a Thursday report from Reuters.

The order also came two days after Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on July 30 that would require Trump to submit at least five years of his tax returns in order to qualify for California’s primary ballot.