Former President Donald Trump's legal team formally stepped into a long-running fight over a US House request for his tax returns, claiming Trump's financial history is being unfairly pursued for political reasons by Democrats and seeking to end House Ways and Means Committee investigations into the ex-President and his companies. The Justice Department last week determined that the Internal Revenue Service must hand over Trump's tax returns to Congress, but a federal judge is still considering what could happen. While the pressure is heating up in the House Democrats' pursuit of Trump's tax information, the tax returns aren't likely to be given to Congress anytime soon -- and the new filing from Trump will likely prompt several new rounds of legal arguments. The move in court on Wednesday makes Trump a party in the lawsuit. For the past two years, his legal team was essentially on the sidelines as the House fought the case with the executive branch. Trump is asking the federal court to permanently block the Treasury Department from turning over his tax returns and order Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to "end all ongoing examinations" of Trump and his companies. Trump's team also seeks to recoup their legal expenses, according to their new filing. #KaraScannell #CNN #Newsroom