By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A court of appeals debated Thursday whether a congressional panel can access tax returns from former President Donald Trump. This is the third round in a long legal battle.

Before the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, oral arguments were heard on whether or not the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee could obtain tax returns of former Presidents from the Internal Revenue Service. This is part of Treasury Department.

David Sentelle (a senior judge) was a conservative jurist who expressed doubts about Trump’s arguments at the hearing.

Cameron Norris, a Trump lawyer, argued there was no reason that the Ways and Means Committee should see tax returns. Sentelle said he was not in agreement with the assertion, saying that it could be possible that the committee has legitimate legislative motives to want the tax returns but also illegitimate politics.

Sentelle explained that the pleading you are making may not have the ball in your favor because there could be two legislative actors who serve different purposes. You claim they only have one. You say they have one. I ask you why it is possible that they could possibly have two.

Trump’s financial deals could be revealed ahead of 2024 Presidential Election if the committee rules in his favor. There could be several months until the interim appeals court makes a decision, and that ruling would most likely be appealed at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump appeals a December 2021 lower court ruling that said the Democratic-led Committee chairman had broad authority to request tax returns from a former President.

Trump, who aimed to conceal the facts of his wealth and activities at his family business, The Trump Organization was the first President to not release his tax returns in over 40 years.

A federal law empowers the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to request any person’s tax returns from the IRS.

The committee invoked that statute and sued Trump in 2019, seeking to demand disclosure of his tax returns.

House Democrats claim they require Trump’s tax returns in order to determine if IRS properly audits presidential returns, and whether any new legislation is required.

Trump lawyers called this explanation “pretextual and disingenuous” because they believe that the true goal is to uncover politically harmful information about Trump.

The U.S. Justice Department released a legal memorandum supporting Trump’s arguments in 2019, as Trump was still president.

After Trump’s defeat in his campaign for reelection, Trump was forced to rethink his position and the Justice Department stated that Trump had not provided sufficient reasons to view the tax returns.

Trump used the Justice Department memo to launch counterclaims against Ways and Means Committee. These claims sought a judicial declaration of constitutional violation by the committee.

Trump appointee U.S. district judge Trevor McFadden supported Congress in December. McFadden stated that Trump had “wrongly applied the law” when he tried to stop the Ways and Means Committee obtaining his tax returns.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Manhattan prosecutor access to Trump’s tax returns from the accounting firm he used. However, this ruling didn’t directly impact the Ways and Means Committee.