Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Trump on Tax Returns

The saga over the release of President Trump’s tax returns continues. In the latest development, a federal appeals court in New York ruled on November 4 that the president’s accounting firm must hand over the returns to prosecutors. But this fight is likely to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ever since he launched his presidential campaign run, Trump has steadfastly refused to disclose any information on the returns, despite repeated calls to do so. Although this has been a standard practice of presidential candidates for decades, Trump hasn’t caved in. At various times, he has maintained that he is under no obligation to provide the returns, that there is nothing to be gained from viewing them and that the returns are off-limits while he is under audit from the IRS.

But then the returns were sought as part of a criminal investigation relating to payments from Trump’s camp to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to reimburse the barrister for “hush money” allegedly paid to two women claiming to have affairs with the billionaire mogul prior to his presidency.

After the Manhattan prosecutors issued a subpoena to Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his personal and business returns dating back to 2011, the president’s attorneys tried to block it, asserting that the criminal investigation of the president was unconstitutional. They claimed that that sitting presidents are immune from such proceedings, especially when the prosecutors’ discretion may be based on political leanings, but a lower court ruled against Trump in October.

Unlike the lower court, which dismissed the immunity argument out of hand, the three-judge appeals panel in the latest decision wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. Instead, they said the president’s accounting firm, not President Trump himself, was subpoenaed for the documents, so it doesn’t matter if the president is immune or not. It’s a moot point.

“We emphasize again the narrowness of the issue before us,” wrote the court. “This appeal does not require us to consider whether the president is immune from indictment and prosecution while in office, nor to consider whether the president may lawfully be ordered to produce documents for use in a state criminal proceeding.”

What’s next? The legal maneuvering is far from over, so don’t expect President Trump’s accounting firm to comply with the order anytime soon. The next stop is likely the U.S. Supreme Court.