In hearings before congressional committees this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly has declined to answer questions about a settlement between President Donald Trump and the IRS that shields the president and his family from all existing tax audits.
Anticipating more stonewalling from Bessent in his Thursday testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., cited a 1962 Supreme Court ruling she said determined that ongoing litigation does not prevent someone from testifying in a congressional hearing.
“So once again, I’m going to ask, why are you allowing President Trump and his family to have complete immunity from being audited?” Sánchez asked.
“Again, since you’re a lawyer, you will understand that U.S. Treasury and the IRS are represented by the Justice Department and the acting attorney general,” Bessent replied.
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Bessent has repeatedly tried to fend off questions about the Trump settlement by citing “ongoing litigation” and telling lawmakers to instead ask acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Bessent’s attempts to dodge questions about the topic similarly drew the ire of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., in a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday.
“I’ve been a lawyer all my life. I have some idea of what is protected when you have an ongoing bit of litigation,” Whitehouse said. “I think it’s completely inappropriate to have this game of dodge ‘em be pursued without any consequences.”
In his Thursday hearing, after declining to answer other questions from Sánchez about the settlement, Bessent became irate when she accused him of running “probably the most corrupt Treasury Department in our nation’s history.”
“I am going to have to take exception with that,” Bessent said, raising his voice. “That is a slanderous statement.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.