A federal judge dismissed President Trump‘s lawsuit that attempted to block a newly passed law that would allow Congress to obtain his New York state tax returns — but allowed for Trump to try again in the future.
The law, known as the TRUST Act, was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in July and calls for the commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to release the president’s tax returns if requested by the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, or the Joint Committee on Taxation.
So far, no such request has been made, and District Court Judge Carl Nichols – a Trump appointee – ruled that the D.C. federal court did not have jurisdiction over the New York tax commissioner or the state Attorney General.
“Mr. Trump bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction, but his allegations do not establish that the District of Columbia’s long-arm statute is satisfied here with respect to either Defendant,” Nichols wrote in a decision handed down Monday. “Mr. Trump has also not demonstrated that jurisdictional discovery is warranted. Mr. Trump may renew his claims against the New York Defendants should future events trigger one or more provisions of the D.C. long-arm statute, and he may, of course, sue either New York Defendant in another forum (presumably in New York).”
The judge noted that in theory there could be a situation where the D.C. court could have jurisdiction over the New York officials in this matter, such as if the commissioner hand-delivered Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee.
“But speculation that they might occur is insufficient to exercise jurisdiction over the Commissioner now,” Nichols wrote. In a footnote, Nichols also cited potential legal complications involved in having a D.C. federal court rule on the constitutionality of a New York state law. – READ MORE