Pascrell Decries New Mnuchin Treasury Scandal

Letter to Treasury Secretary blasts “honeypot of corruption” at Treasury,  demands answers on political errand to smear Biden family

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, has written to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calling for answers to a new report alleging that Mnuchin’s department is providing financial records of Hunter Biden to U.S. senators.

“I was encouraged when I read the headline of a report today noting that your department is focusing on rampant abuse and corruption. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was referring to your department’s engagement in that abuse, with allegations that the Treasury Department has provided ‘highly sensitive’ financial records of the son of a Democratic candidate for President to several Republican senators conducting a baseless investigation,” Pascrell writes.

The letter further questions Mnuchin’s involvement in the scheme given his repeated law-breaking to shield Donald Trump’s tax returns from congressional scrutiny: “In obstructing the House Ways and Means Committee’s investigation into Donald Trump’s shady financial background, you have erroneously cited that the committee’s request for Trump’s business and personal tax returns ‘lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.’ Using your own standard, what legitimate legislative purpose is fulfilled by providing the records of Mr. Biden to members of the Senate?” Pascrell continues.

Rep. Pascrell has been the leading voice in Congress demanding the release of Trump’s business and personal tax returns since February 2017. Pascrell has also been a harsh critic of corruption in Mnuchin’s Treasury Department. On October 29, 2019, Pascrell wrote a letter to Mnuchin blasting him for breaking his own department’s guidelines to grant special favors to a disgraced con artist for a program designed to aid impoverished communities.

A copy of Rep. Pascrell’s latest letter to Mnuchin is available here, the text of which is provided below.

February 6, 2020

The Honorable Steven Mnuchin

Secretary

United States Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I was encouraged when I read the headline of a report today noting that your department is focusing on rampant abuse and corruption. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was referring to your department’s engagement in that abuse, with allegations that the Treasury Department has provided “highly sensitive” financial records of the son of a Democratic candidate for President to several Republican senators conducting a baseless investigation.^[i]

Your involvement in a nakedly political probe is unacceptable, but made far worse when compared beside your adamant refusal to obey the law under 26 U.S.C. §6103(f) by providing Donald Trump’s tax returns to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee pursuant to his request of April 3, 2019.^[ii] In light of this new report, please provide answers to the questions below.

• Has your office provided financial materials pertaining to Hunter Biden or members of the Biden family to U.S. Senators or U.S. Senate committees? If so, please detail the nature of those documents and the schedule of their release to the Senate.
• In obstructing the House Ways and Means Committee’s investigation into Donald Trump’s shady financial background, you have erroneously cited that the committee’s request for Trump’s business and personal tax returns “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.” Using your own standard, what legitimate legislative purpose is fulfilled by providing the records of Mr. Biden to members of the Senate?
• Does your office have a set or implicit policy of advancing political investigations by Republicans and obstructing congressional inquiries into malfeasance by Republican officials, including Donald Trump?

As I highlighted in my letter to you on October 29, 2019,^[iii] I am disgusted that the department has become a honeypot of corruption under your watch. Continuing to violate the law to shield Donald Trump’s tax returns while simultaneously aiding a blatantly partisan investigation is an affront to public service. I call on you to end your stonewalling and give the Ways and Means Committee its requested information. In the meantime, please provide answers to my questions immediately.

Sincerely,

Bill Pascrell, Jr.

Member of Congress

[i] https://news.yahoo.com/treasury-department-sent-information-on-hunter-biden-to-expanding-gop-senate-inquiry-161846826.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw

[ii]https://waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/Neal%20Letter%20to%20Rettig%20%28signed%29%20-%202019.04.03.pdf; see generally https://pascrell.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=14897

[iii] https://pascrell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4051

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