House Oversight reaches deal with Trump to obtain "key financial documents"
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Former President Trump in Dallas in August 2022. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The House Oversight Committee reached a deal with former President Trump to obtain "key financial documents" from his accounting firm as part of its investigation into his potential conflicts of interest and foreign financial ties, committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Thursday.
Why it matters: The deal appears to end Trump's yearslong effort to prevent Congress, and specifically the House Oversight Committee, from obtaining his private financial records from Mazars USA, a tax and accounting firm.
- The committee said Trump agreed to not appeal a July ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the House panel was authorized to obtain "certain financial records and communications" from Trump.
- It said Mazars also "agreed to comply with the court's order and produce responsive documents to the Committee as expeditiously as possible."
What they're saying: "After numerous court victories, I am pleased that my Committee has now reached an agreement to obtain key financial documents that former President Trump fought for years to hide from Congress," Maloney said in a statement.
- "In April 2019, the Oversight Committee issued a lawful subpoena for financial records as part of our investigation into President Trump’s unprecedented conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and foreign financial ties," she added.
- "After facing years of delay tactics, the Committee has now reached an agreement with the former President and his accounting firm, Mazars USA, to obtain critical documents."
- "These documents will inform the Committee’s efforts to get to the bottom of former President Trump’s egregious conduct and ensure that future presidents do not abuse their position of power for personal gain."
The big picture: The committee initially subpoenaed Mazars for financial information from Trump dating back 10 years in April 2019.
- It issued the subpoena after Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified that Trump "inflated his total assets when it served his purposes” and “deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes."
- The House Oversight Committee is conducting several probes that pertain to Trump, including foreign gifts he received as president and his handling of presidential records, which the Department of Justice is investigating as well.
- The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled last month that the House Ways and Means Committee can obtain former President Trump's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service as part of its investigation into the service's presidential audit program.
Go deeper: White House said intelligence officials' review of Trump documents is "appropriate"
