Trump Asks Top Court to Intervene on Tax Returns
In a separate effort to investigate Trump’s financial records, a grand jury in Manhattan is poking into allegations that real estate mogul paid “hush money” to two women through his former attorney, Michael Cohen, prior to the 2016 election.
Nov. 15, 2019
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A showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court between President Trump and criminal investigators over his tax returns appears inevitable.
On November 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to overturn an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel that said Congress could subpoena the president’s personal tax returns. Trump’s lawyers had asked the full D.C. circuit court to reconsider its decision. Now this avenue has been closed off.
In a separate effort to investigate Trump’s financial records, a grand jury in Manhattan is poking into allegations that real estate mogul paid “hush money” to two women through his former attorney, Michael Cohen, prior to the 2016 election. Trump is also seeking to block those efforts to access eight years of his tax returns.
The D.C. Court voted 8-3 in favor of allowing the prior ruling to stand. The three dissenting judges were all appointed by Republicans, including two Trump appointees, as the proceedings continue to reflect a partisan flavor.
Unlike the parade of presidential candidates the last few decades, Trump has steadfastly refused to release his returns for public inspection. Initially, he insisted that he was barred from doing so while the IRS was auditing his returns.
In the latest development in this ongoing saga, the president formally requested in a 179-page petition on November 14 that the U.S. Supreme Court protect his privacy based on “absolute immunity” from all stages of criminal process while he is in office. If the top court in the land declines to hear the case, it is expected that Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, will eventually hand over the returns.
To further complicate matters, Congress is currently holding impeachment hearings relating to an alleged misuse of executive power by the president.
Now the next move is up to the U.S. Supreme Court. This could being the tax returns issue to a resolution, but no one should be surprised if there are still a few more twists and turns along the way.