A federal judge in DC just dismissed a case brought by Trump against the House Ways and Means committee to prevent the Democratic committee from getting his taxes from New York via their new law designed to breech Trump’s privacy:
NBC NEWS – A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit to prevent the House Ways and Means Committee from utilizing a recently passed New York law providing the panel an avenue to pursue his state tax returns.
Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that his court was not the proper jurisdiction to hear the case, leaving open the option that Trump sue New York officials elsewhere.
In his lawsuit, Trump sued to preemptively block the House Ways and Means Committee from requesting the returns, New York Attorney General Letitia James from enforcing the law, and to stop the New York Department of Taxation from furnishing the documents.
“Based on the current allegations, Mr. Trump has not met his burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over either of the New York Defendants,” Nichols wrote. “The Court therefore need not reach the question of proper venue. Accordingly, the New York Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is granted, and Mr. Trump’s Amended Complaint is dismissed without prejudice as to them.”
Not only did Trump’s legal team not establish personal jurisdiction, they also failed to successfully establish the conspiracy argument which was the basis for their lawsuit:
Nichols also ruled that Trump did not sufficiently establish a conspiracy between the House Ways and Means Committee and the New York defendants, which would have strengthened his case for the lawsuit to be heard in Washington, D.C. Trump argued that Washington, D.C. was the proper venue through a legal theory known as “conspiracy jurisdiction.”
“But nowhere in his Amended Complaint does Mr. Trump allege the existence of a conspiracy; in fact, the word ‘conspiracy’ does not even appear in his pleadings,” Nichols wrote.
Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow said in a statement on Monday that, “We are reviewing the opinion. The case against the Ways and Means Committee proceeds in federal court.”
What’s interesting is that this is the same judge who blocked New York from turning over Trump’s taxes to the House committee in August. Now he’s dismissing the case.
And in case you’re wondering, this isn’t a Clinton, Bush, or Obama judge. Nichols was appointed by Trump and took office in June of this year.