Supreme Court agrees to hear 3 disputes over access to Trump's financial and tax records
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On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear three cases in which President Donald Trump is fighting subpoenas for his tax and financial records from two banks and his accounting firm.
The high court has consolidated two cases involving congressional subpoenas and ordered March 2020 oral arguments in all of them, report the New York Times, the National Law Journal, CNN and the Washington Post.
The subpoenas were issued by congressional committees and a New York grand jury. Federal appeals courts based in Washington, D.C., and New York had ruled against Trump in the disputes.
Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, has argued that Trump has “temporary presidential immunity” from investigation and prosecution. Responding to a hypothetical question in oral arguments before one appeals court, Consovoy said a sitting president couldn’t be investigated and prosecuted by New York authorities even if he shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue.
New York prosecutors seeking tax records are investigating hush money payments made before the 2016 presidential election. Congressional committees say they are seeking records as they consider changing the ethics laws requiring financial disclosure. The committees also say they are investigating hush money payments, Trump’s descriptions of his assets, banking compliance with laws, and foreign election influence.
The subpoenas seek records from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA (the case is Trump v. Mazars USA); from Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp. (the case is Trump v. Deutsche Bank); and from Mazars and the Trump Organization (the case is Trump v. Vance).
