I recently posited that if Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and I.R.S. Commissioner Charles Rettig did not comply with House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal’s request for various tax returns related to President Trump, then the preferred remedy would be seeking a writ of mandamus in court, rather than a Congressional finding of contempt.

As expected, Munchin has refused to turn over the information, and the Chairman has issued a subpoena for it. Come this Friday, it is time to take the matter directly to court, and learn whether the Secretary and the Treasury will risk the issuance of a writ of mandamus and the resulting contempt of court finding if they refuse to comply with such a writ.

I’ve drafted a sample complaint for the writ, as an exercise in releasing frustration over the sorry state of our government and in particular as part of my attempt to persuade those with the authority to exercise it and demonstrate that the president will face real consequences for his actions.

Complaint-for-Mandamus