In defiance of black letter law, the Treasury Secretary is refusing the Ways & Means Committee’s demand for Trump’s tax returns:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday told House Democrats he would not furnish President Trump’s tax returns despite their legal request, the latest move by Trump administration officials to shield the president from congressional investigations.

Mnuchin, in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), said he had consulted with the Justice Department and that they had concluded that it would not be lawful for the Trump administration to turn over the tax returns because of potential violations of privacy.

Mnuchin added that requests from Congress “must serve a legitimate legislative purpose” and that the request from Democrats does not.

A number of legal experts have said it would be unprecedented for Mnuchin to refuse to turn over the tax returns, as the power for lawmakers to seek the returns is written explicitly in a 1924 law.

It is, as the saying goes, “On.”

It should be noted that Mnuchin has yet to release the opinion from the DoJ.

Here’s hoping that Neal seriously considers a contempt of Congress citation, but, based on his record, I would instead expect some more whinging, followed by a slow path through the courts.