The Latest: Mnuchin seeks more time on Trump tax request
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on congressional investigations of the Trump administration (all times local):
5:40 p.m.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is asking for more time to respond to House Democrats’ request for President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Mnuchin says in a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts that he will give the panel a final decision by May 6. The committee had set a deadline for Tuesday.
The treasury secretary says he is consulting with the Justice Department “due to the serious constitutional questions raised by this request and the serious consequences that a resolution of those questions could have for taxpayer privacy.”
Neal says he will consult with the committee’s lawyers on the next steps. He could opt to issue a subpoena to enforce his demand, which was sent using the powers of a 1924 law.
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4 p.m.
The chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee says the White House is in “open defiance” of his panel after lawyers advised a former official to ignore a subpoena related to the committee’s investigation of White House security clearances.
Rep. Elijah Cummings says he is consulting with other lawmakers and staff about scheduling a vote to hold former White House personnel security director Carl Kline in contempt of Congress after Kline did not show up Tuesday for a scheduled deposition.
The committee subpoenaed Kline after one of his former subordinates told the panel that dozens of people in President Donald Trump’s administration were granted security clearances despite “disqualifying issues” in their backgrounds.
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