Posted on 07/09/2020 7:52:30 AM PDT by servo1969
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that President Trump is not immune from a subpoena over his financial and tax records to Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., -- and declined in a separate case to issue a definitive ruling on whether congressional committees can have access to Trump's financial records, throwing both issues back to lower courts.
Vance had subpoenaed Trump's records as part of a criminal investigation into potential wrongdoing by the president and his organization. Multiple House committees had subpoenaed Trump's records ostensibly as part of an effort at oversight and to inform potential legislation.
"President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court's majority opinion in the New York case. The court limited its ruling and the arguments before it to whether Trump has "absolute immunity" and state prosecutors are required to show a "heightened need" in order to obtain documents as part of investigations into a president.
The president "may raise further arguments as appropriate," in lower courts in an effort to keep Vance from obtaining his documents, Roberts wrote.
Roberts also authored the opinion in the House case.
"Without limits on its subpoena powers, Congress could 'exert an imperious controul' over the Executive Branch and aggrandize itself at the President's expense, just as the Framers feared," he wrote.
The rulings, in the near term, represent a partial victory for the president -- he will not have to turn over financial documents in the midst of a fraught presidential election.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Oh, make no mistake. The NYT and Washington Post will have copies by tomorrow afternoon.
Alito and Thomas dissented in both cases. They are not willing to play the games Roberts wants them to. Best justices on the Court without question.
No, because nothing has been turned over. That all has to be litigated. The President can continue to raise grounds for quashing the subpoenas and appeal those rulings.
It’s going to be very difficult for anything to be turned over before November, even if the President were to lose every single challenge.
What do they expect to find? And Trump hires others to do his taxes...would they commit fraud for him??
You can bet on it. As soon as the Prosecutors in New York get a hold of them, they'll leak everything to the NY Slimes.
“””The president “may raise further arguments as appropriate,” in lower courts in an effort to keep Vance from obtaining his documents, Roberts wrote. “”””””
So in plain English, President Trump can keep dragging the prosecutor through court forever.
Key phrase here is “state criminal subpoenas “.
So if the state has a CRIMINAL case against the president in which his records are subpoenaed, he should comply, right?
What CRIME is POTUS Trump being CHARGED with?
Or is this just another fishing expedition without justification because that’s what leftists do?
I’m glad they decided the way they did on the immunity part. When it comes to our tax forms, we are all equal under the law. If he gets immunity, I get immunity - or neither of us do.
Hell the IRS has all that info. I’m sure if it was damaging it would have been leaked his first month in office.
That’s why this will be dragged out for years, although shouldn’t because there appears to be no real criminal investigation going on and Vance just wants his financial records. Trumps lawyers are saying no because there’s no predicate in seeing them
So if Congress gets Trumps tax returns, the Manhattan district attorney will have committed a felony by sharing them with congress.
How can they rule for prosecutors, when all prosecutors have is, “We think he’s committed fraud?”
“So if Congress gets Trumps tax returns, the Manhattan district attorney will have committed a felony by sharing them with congress.”
Except any leaks of Trump’s tax returns will be blamed on the janitor.
This basically protects Trump easily through the end of this term. He can prevent people from learning whom it is he owes money to until after the election.
What do they expect to find? And Trump hires others to do his taxes...would they commit fraud for him??
This. He is audited every year and has been for over a decade long before he ever became involved in politics. He has tax attorneys and accountants and while I am sure he pays well, why would they commit felonies on his behalf? They wouldn’t.
This tax return issue is a complete red herring like everything else they have attacked him with. There is NO DOUBT that the state of the New York has targeted him for political partisan purposes. They will still be going after him after he leaves office along with his children, employees, and anyone associated with him.
It is disgusting!
That’s a good question. I run a business (no where near the size of Trumps!), and taxes would only give Democrats talking points, such as amount of taxes paid (maybe low), or large deductions taken, or special programs or tax exemptions requested.
to attempt to prove any kind of fraud, they would need to find discrepancies within company records, actual invoices, emails, etc…. And that’s a whole different investigation. I assume Trump is smart and destroys those after 7 years anyway.
As such, they are looking for talking points, and to keep the leftist base agitated. Trump on the other hand is right to demand his regular privacy, and also Presidential privilege
I guess this is why Nancy’s having a press conference now?
They don't seem to understand that this is going back down to the lower courts to be bounced around until after the election.
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