A US federal judge on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump's legal campaign to prevent Congress from accessing his tax returns, authorities said.
Judge Trevor McFadden said Trump's legal team, which has battled Democratic efforts to learn his tax returns for two years, is "wrong on the law."
Trump has fought tooth and nail to keep his tax returns private, despite promises in 2016 to disclose them.
Trump argues that the House efforts are only politically motivated.
If u gone date a non nigerian chick U gotta teach her how to make afang soup bruh
— Eche Enziga Sun Nov 23 23:45:31 +0000 2014
Democratic Congressman Richard Neal, chairman of the House committee that led the attempt to access the depositions, said the ruling "is not a surprise, the law is clearly on the side of the committee."
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In August, the Justice Department ordered Treasury to provide the committee with six years of tax records that Trump had refused to make public.
Presidents of the United States are not legally required to disclose details of their personal finances, but everyone since Richard Nixon has.
The congressional committee has the right to make the statements public, but the judge's ruling included a warning against doing so.
"It may not be appropriate or prudent to publish the statements, but the (committee) chair has the right to do so," the magistrate said.
