President Trump was given a second 45-day extension to file his annual financial disclosure form, a White House official said on Wednesday.
The additional extension was announced more than a week after an already extended deadline came and went without any word from the White House or the Office of Government Ethics on why the report — which is the only official document laying out the President’s finances — was late. Then on Wednesday, a White House official said the President had been granted “an additional 45 days, but the President intends to file as soon as possible,” the The New York Times reported.
Up until Wednesday the White House had not supplied a reason publicly for the filing’s delay. The ethics office has historically posted Trump’s filing online the day after its due.
Although the report was originally due in May, all White House employees were granted an extension until June 29 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to The Times, an official said on Wednesday night that Trump had requested another extension due to the “complicated” nature of the report and because the President had “been focused on addressing the coronavirus crisis and other matters.”
Vice President Mike Pence released a separate disclosure reporting his own finances.
The President’s own delay comes as Trump’s legal team is fighting against disclosing the President’s tax records to state and congressional investigations. A Supreme Court ruling on that matter is expected on Thursday.
Trump has thwarted repeated calls for the release his annual tax returns which has become common practice for presidents in recent history and remains an undelivered promise from his first campaign for president in 2016.
Trump was embroiled in scrutiny last year for his filing when he was asked about unreported free legal services he had received from Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York mayor, who served as a legal adviser to Trump beginning in 2018 and rendered the President legal services through 2019.
