Chief Justice Roberts temporarily blocks release of Trump's tax records to House Democrats

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked a congressional committee from accessing former President Donald Trump’s tax records.

Trump, unlike other recent presidents, has refused to make his tax returns public amid scrutiny of his business affairs, and turned to the justices after an appeals court in Washington refused to intervene on the release of the records. The court has recently rejected similar requests made by Trump.

Trump’s lawyers say the House Ways and Means Committee’s assertion that it needs the information to probe how the IRS conducts the auditing process for presidents does not stand up to scrutiny.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined Thursday to reconsider a three-judge panel’s ruling in August that the House Ways and Means Committee could obtain the tax returns.