Politico:  “A federal judge poised to rule on former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Congress from obtaining his tax returns expressed skepticism Tuesday about the Justice Department’s abrupt reversal in the case after Trump left office. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden suggested it was strange that last July — about six months after President Joe Biden was sworn in — the Justice Department concluded the Treasury Department was legally obligated to fork over Trump’s tax returns to the House.

“That opinion reversed one DOJ issued in 2019 authorizing the Treasury Department to withhold the returns. McFadden, a Trump appointee, implied that the reversal was driven by politics and he said the new stance might dictate that Congress could be entitled not only to Biden’s returns — which have already been made public — but even the taxes filed by Biden’s son Hunter. ‘I mean if Congress changes hands in a couple years here and a Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee asked for Hunter Biden’s tax returns are [you] just going to say, “Oh sure, we’ve got to defer to Congress. They’ve said they’re interested in legislating on the presidential family. We’ve got to turn them over.” Is that going to be the administration’s position?’ the judge said.

“McFadden’s comments were the latest twist in a year’s long effort by the House to obtain Trump’s tax returns. After Biden took office, DOJ negotiated with the House and agreed to drop its objection to the House Ways and Means Committee’s bid for the documents. But DOJ agreed to continue litigating the case before handing the returns to the Democratic-led panel. Justice Department attorney James Gilligan said he couldn’t address the Hunter Biden hypothetical. ‘I’m just a career DOJ attorney. I don’t speak for the administration,’ Gilligan said. ‘You speak for the United States, though,’ the judge replied.