Trump's Lawyers Mount New Effort to Keep Tax Return Fight in DC Court
The president's attorneys highlighted New York state officials’ ties to Washington, D.C., in a bid to keep the case before District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee.
August 19, 2019 at 09:48 PM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
President Trump’s lawyers are taking another shot at stopping House Democrats from getting his New York state tax returns, with an eye on keeping the fight in a D.C. federal court.
Trump’s attorneys from Consovoy McCarthy highlighted New York officials’ ties to Washington, D.C., in an amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, as they seek to block the Democratic-controlled House Ways & Means Committee from obtaining the president’s state tax returns under a recently passed New York law.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ruled earlier this month that the president’s lawyers could amend their complaint after New York officials argued that the case should be dismissed because it’s better suited to play out in federal court in their state. Nichols, a Trump appointee from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, was confirmed to the bench in May.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden spurned the president’s attempt to put the case in his court last month. McFadden is presiding over a case the House filed against the Treasury Department and IRS, and Trump’s lawyers had designated the New York tax lawsuit as “related” to the pending one.
At issue is the newly passed TRUST Act, which allows the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee—as well as other tax-related congressional committees—to request officials’ tax returns from New York tax authorities.
The president’s lawyers have previously argued the law illegally targets Trump, and that the Ways & Means Committee “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose” for using the state law.
The amended complaint expands upon the jurisdiction arguments, stating that D.C. “is where the TRUST Act is aimed and where the president’s injury and virtually all of the relevant conduct will occur.”
“For example, the committee will request the president’s tax returns here, New York will send the returns here, the committee will review the returns here, the committee will hold hearings (including testimony from New York officials) about the returns here, the committee will use the returns to draft and consider legislation here, and the committee will decide whether and how to disclose the returns here,” the complaint said.
The complaint adds Andrew Grossman, the chief tax counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee, as a defendant.
It also amplifies the ties between the existing defendants and D.C. For example, the complaint now notes that Michael Schmidt, the commissioner of New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, lived in the district from 2011 to 2012 while working as a policy analyst for the Treasury Department.
The complaint also says that Schmidt is a Democrat, and that he was an economic policy adviser on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The filing similarly draws a deeper connection between New York Attorney General Letitia James and D.C., pointing to her involvement in several ongoing court cases in the district’s trial court. It also highlights recent appearances she has made in D.C., including an April lecture at Howard University, where James attended law school.
“She has also made substantial campaign expenditures in the District and solicited and received campaign contributions from donors within the District,” the complaint reads.
A spokesperson for the James’ office said last week, when parties in the case asked permission for the president’s lawyers to filed an amended complaint, that they anticipated the new version of the complaint to address those jurisdiction issues. The New York office believed that the jurisdiction arguments made in the initial filing weren’t strong enough to win in court, the spokesperson said at the time.
That spokesperson said Monday that the state attorney general’s office anticipates that their motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction will still stand up, despite the new arguments presented by the president’s team.
Trump attorney William Consovoy did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump’s attorneys are also changing up what they want from the court. They are now seeking an order that will effectively require that the president be notified if Democrats request his state tax returns or if the New York authorities are preparing to provide lawmakers with the documents, and give them an opportunity to intervene in court first.
Whether the state tax returns case will remain in D.C. will be up to Nichols, who is currently being briefed on the jurisdiction issue. The New York defendants are scheduled to file a new motion to dismiss by next Thursday, and a hearing is set for Nichols’ courtroom on Sept. 18.
The House Ways & Means Committee has also filed a federal lawsuit in D.C. seeking to obtain Trump’s federal tax returns. Trump declined to release the documents during his 2016 presidential campaign, bucking decades of precedent.
The president’s lawyers initially asked that the state tax returns case be considered related to the lawsuit over the federal returns. But U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who is overseeing the federal returns case, ruled otherwise, and Nichols was tasked with the lawsuit.
Read the amended complaint:
[falcon-embed src="embed_1"]
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'The Most Peculiar Federal Court in the Country' Comes to Berkeley Law
The New Federal Sentencing Factor in Downstate New York? Prison Conditions
'Vision': Judge David Tatel on the Value of Oral Argument and Reading Drafts Aloud
Snell & Wilmer's Andrew Young and the Case of the FBI's Secret Encrypted Phone Company
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Dechert partners Andrew J. Levander, Angela M. Liu and Neil A. Steiner have stepped in to defend Arbor Realty Trust and certain executives in a pending securities class action. The complaint, filed July 31 in New York Eastern District Court by Levi & Korsinsky, contends that the defendants concealed a 'toxic' mobile home portfolio, vastly overstated collateral in regards to the company's loans and failed to disclose an investigation of the company by the FBI. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen, is 1:24-cv-05347, Martin v. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Arthur G. Jakoby, Ryan Feeney and Maxim M.L. Nowak from Herrick Feinstein have stepped in to defend Charles Dilluvio and Seacor Capital in a pending securities lawsuit. The complaint, filed Sept. 30 in New York Southern District Court by the Securities and Exchange Commission, accuses the defendants of using consulting agreements, attorney opinion letters and other mechanisms to skirt regulations limiting stock sales by affiliate companies and allowing the defendants to unlawfully profit from sales of Enzolytics stock. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., is 1:24-cv-07362, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Zhabilov et al.
Who Got The Work
Clark Hill members Vincent Roskovensky and Kevin B. Watson have entered appearances for Architectural Steel and Associated Products in a pending environmental lawsuit. The complaint, filed Aug. 27 in Pennsylvania Eastern District Court by Brodsky & Smith on behalf of Hung Trinh, accuses the defendant of discharging polluted stormwater from its steel facility without a permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert, is 2:24-cv-04490, Trinh v. Architectural Steel And Associated Products, Inc.
Who Got The Work
Michael R. Yellin of Cole Schotz has entered an appearance for S2 d/b/a the Shoe Surgeon, Dominic Chambrone a/k/a Dominic Ciambrone and other defendants in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The case, filed July 15 in New York Southern District Court by DLA Piper on behalf of Nike, seeks to enjoin Ciambrone and the other defendants in their attempts to build an 'entire multifaceted' retail empire through their unauthorized use of Nike’s trademark rights. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, is 1:24-cv-05307, Nike Inc. v. S2, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Sullivan & Cromwell partner Adam S. Paris has entered an appearance for Orthofix Medical in a pending securities class action arising from a proposed acquisition of SeaSpine by Orthofix. The suit, filed Sept. 6 in California Southern District Court, by Girard Sharp and the Hall Firm, contends that the offering materials and related oral communications contained untrue statements of material fact. According to the complaint, the defendants made a series of misrepresentations about Orthofix’s disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting and ethical compliance. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez, is 3:24-cv-01593, O'Hara v. Orthofix Medical Inc. et al.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250