Trump lawyer calls on Treasury to reject Democrats’ demand for tax returns until Justice Dept. weighs in

An attorney for President Trump on Friday told the Treasury Department it should not turn over the president’s tax returns until it receives a legal opinion from the Justice Department, calling on Treasury to deny Democrats’ demands for six years of the president’s records.

William S. Consovoy, the attorney, attacked the request from Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, as a “gross abuse of power,” arguing that it risks encroaching on taxpayers’ privacy.

Consovoy’s letter is one of the early moves in what is expected to be an extensive legal fight over who has the authority to release Trump’s tax returns.

On Wednesday, Neal formally requested that the Internal Revenue Service, which is part of the Treasury Department, turn over six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns.