EXCLUSIVE: Treasury IG sends report to House Dems on handling of Trump tax returns

The Treasury Department’s inspector general’s office on Wednesday sent a report about the department’s handling of House Democrats’ request for President Trump’s tax returns to key lawmakers.

Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar, who is currently the acting IG for Treasury, said in an email to The Hill that his office’s “inquiry report” was sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who requested the report, as well as the committee’s top Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

The contents of the report were not immediately known. The Hill has reached out to Neal’s and Brady’s offices.

Neal requested six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns from the IRS in April 2019, under a section of the federal tax code that states that the Treasury secretary “shall furnish” tax returns requested by the chairs of Congress’s tax committees.

The Treasury Department and IRS then rejected Neal’s request and subsequent subpoenas for the documents. The dispute is currently the subject of a court case.

Last fall, Neal requested that the inspector general conduct an inquiry, saying he wanted to be assured that Treasury and the IRS are “enforcing the law in a fair and impartial manner and no one is endeavoring to intimidate or impede government officials and employees carrying out their duties.”

Neal asked that the inspector general’s finding include the names of people involved in the handling of his request and related decisions, including the names of people involved who come from outside Treasury and the IRS.