Trump Campaign Sues California Over Tax Return Release Ballot Requirement
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party sued California on Tuesday over a new law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to run in the state’s primary.
“Today we have taken decisive action in federal court challenging California’s attempt to circumvent the U.S. Constitution,” Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s personal legal team, said in a statement.
“The issue of whether the President should release his federal tax returns was litigated in the 2016 election and the American people spoke. The effort to deny California voters the opportunity to cast a ballot for President Trump in 2020 will clearly fail.”
“Legal scholars from across the political spectrum have roundly condemned this flagrantly illegal statute. We are confident the courts will as well,” Sekulow added.
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of California, argues the law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom last month is unconstitutional, violating both the First Amendment and restrictions on state power.
The law requires all candidates for president to disclose the previous five years of tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said he’d release his tax returns, but then reneged on that promise, claiming his returns are still under audit.
The lawsuit, which names California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as defendants, claims the law is a “naked political attack against the sitting president of the United States.”
In The News
Health
Voting
Litigation
Law
SAN FRANCISCO — In a closely watched case, a federal appeals court Thursday upheld an order requiring immigration authorities to provide children detained at the border with adequate food, water, bedding, toothbrushes and soap. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected... Read More
Litigation
BALTIMORE — An animal rights group has filed a complaint against Johns Hopkins University for what it describes as botched surgeries on nine dogs that led to their paralysis and euthanasia. This is the second complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Hopkins this... Read More
Voting
A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia to stop using its "unsecure ... and grossly outdated" voting machines after this year and to have hand-marked paper ballots at the ready if new, more secure machines aren't in place by the state's presidential primary. U.S. District Judge... Read More
Immigration
Immigrants along the Texas-Mexico border, citing indefinite detention in “horrific conditions,” have asked a federal judge to order the U.S. to improve the conditions, give them access to lawyers and release them after 72 hours. U.S. Customs and Border Protection “has intentionally packed these people into... Read More
Climate
WASHINGTON - A coalition of 22 states and seven major cities sued the Trump administration Tuesday in a bid to prevent it from dismantling an Obama-era regulation that established national limits on the carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. In a petition filed in the U.S.... Read More
Litigation
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party sued California on Tuesday over a new law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to run in the state’s primary. "Today we have taken decisive action in federal court challenging California’s attempt to circumvent the U.S. Constitution,"... Read More
