Biden's Justice Department says IRS 'must' hand over Trump tax returns to Congress

The Justice Department told the Treasury Department that it "must" turn over former President Donald Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which first requested them more than two years ago.

The direction came in an opinion released Friday by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice to the executive branch.

"The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President's tax information." Under the department's interpretation of federal law, according to the opinion, "Treasury must furnish the information to the Committee."

The opinion was released on the same day that the House committee and the Treasury Department are expected to submit a court filing in the lawsuit that House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal brought in July 2019 seeking the tax returns. According to previous filings in the case, lawmakers and the Biden administration have been in discussion for several months as to how to move forward in the litigation.