Advertisement
Supported by
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Bar Release of His Tax Returns
A fight over a Manhattan grand jury subpoena could yield a major decision on presidential power.
WASHINGTON — President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to bar his accounting firm from turning over eight years of his tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors.
The case, the first concerning Mr. Trump’s personal conduct and business dealings to reach the court, could yield a major ruling on the scope of presidential immunity from criminal investigations.
Last week, a unanimous three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled against Mr. Trump, rejecting his argument that he was absolutely immune from criminal investigation while he remains in office. The court, in a focused ruling, said state prosecutors may require third parties to turn over a sitting president’s financial records for use in a grand jury investigation.
Mr. Trump has fought vigorously to shield his financial records, and prosecutors in Manhattan have agreed not to seek the tax returns until the case is resolved by the Supreme Court. In exchange, they insisted on a very quick briefing schedule, one that would allow the Supreme Court to announce whether it will hear the case as soon as next month and to issue a decision by June, as the presidential election enters its final stages.
Other cases involving Mr. Trump are also in the pipeline. They involve matters as diverse as demands from House Democrats for tax and business records, a request for access to redacted portions of the report prepared by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, and challenges to Mr. Trump’s business arrangements under the Constitution’s emoluments clauses.
On Wednesday, the full United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to rehear a ruling from a divided three-judge panel that Mr. Trump’s accounting firm must comply with the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s demands for eight years of his financial records. A lawyer for Mr. Trump said he would appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court, too.
The legal fight in the New York case began in late August after prosecutors in the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his tax returns and those of his family business dating to 2011.
The prosecutors are looking into hush-money payments made to two women just before the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, reimbursed his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, for payments he made to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen was also involved in money paid to Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also said she had a relationship with Mr. Trump. The president has denied the relationships.
Prosecutors say they need the documents to decide whether the payments violated state laws.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers sued to block the subpoena, arguing that criminal investigations of presidents are barred by the Constitution. They said sitting presidents are not only protected from being indicted, a proposition that is widely but not universally accepted, but also cannot be subjected to the burdens of criminal investigations, especially from local prosecutors who may use the criminal process for political gain.
When the case was argued last month before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Denny Chin asked about a statement Mr. Trump had once made — that he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone without political fallout.
Judge Chin asked William S. Consovoy, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, about the legal consequences of such a hypothetical crime.
“Local authorities couldn’t investigate?” Judge Chin asked, adding: “Nothing could be done? That’s your position?”
“That is correct,” Mr. Consovoy said. “That is correct.”
In a footnote to last week’s decision, Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, writing for the appeals court panel, said allowing a grand jury to inspect tax returns did not seem likely to impose a burden on Mr. Trump’s ability to fulfill his constitutional responsibilities.
“We note that the past six presidents, dating back to President Carter, all voluntarily released their tax returns to the public,” Judge Katzmann wrote. “While we do not place dispositive weight on this fact, it reinforces our conclusion that the disclosure of personal financial information, standing alone, is unlikely to impair the president in performing the duties of his office.”
Judge Katzmann noted that Mr. Trump had conceded that his immunity would last only as long as he held office.
“There is no obvious reason why a state could not begin to investigate a president during his term and, with the information secured during that search, ultimately determine to prosecute him after he leaves office,” he wrote.
Advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment