WASHINGTON, Dec 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The US Supreme Court agreed Friday to
hear cases next year involving the release of President Donald Trump’s tax
returns and financial records, setting the stage for a potential blockbuster
ruling during the presidential election campaign.
Trump has been seeking to block access to his tax returns and other records
in cases brought by New York prosecutors and Democratic-controlled committees
in the House of Representatives.
Lower courts have ruled that Trump must turn over the documents, but
lawyers for the president appealed to the nation’s highest court, arguing
that as chief executive, he has blanket immunity.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court granted review of the president’s
three pending cases,” Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal attorney, said in a
statement. “These cases raise significant constitutional issues.
“We look forward to presenting our written and oral arguments.”
The Supreme Court — where conservative judges are in the majority — said
it will hear arguments in March with a decision to be issued before the court
session ends June 30.
Two of the five conservative justices on the nine-member court — Neil
Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — were appointed by Trump, who made a fortune in
real estate before running for president in 2016.
A Supreme Court ruling in the case would come less than six months before
Americans go to the polls in November.
– ‘Unimaginable’ –
Trump is the first US president since Richard Nixon not to make his tax
returns public, claiming they are under audit by the Internal Revenue
Service.
Democrats in the House of Representatives have turned to the courts to
force the release of his tax returns and other records in cases that are
considered a crucial test of the separation of powers.
In those cases, the committees have issued subpoenas for records from
Deutsche Bank and the president’s accounting firm, Mazars USA.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr has demanded Trump’s tax returns
dating back to 2011 as part of an investigation into payments made by Michael
Cohen, the president’s former personal attorney, to Stormy Daniels, an adult
film actress who claimed to have had a sexual liaison with Trump before he
ran for president.
A federal appeals court ruled that Trump must hand over the documents, but
the president’s attorneys appealed, arguing that he enjoys immunity from both
prosecution and investigation.
In the New York case, Trump’s lawyers said the Constitution provides for
impeachment as the remedy to remove a president.
“A lone county prosecutor cannot circumvent this arrangement,” they said.
“That the Constitution would empower thousands of state and local prosecutors
to embroil the President in criminal proceedings is unimaginable.”
Trump is facing impeachment, and the House of Representatives is expected
to vote next week on whether he should be impeached for abuse of power and
obstruction of Congress.
In the cases brought by the congressional committees, Trump’s lawyers
argued that turning over a president’s personal records to Congress would
create a dangerous precedent.
“Given the temptation to dig up dirt on political rivals, intrusive
subpoenas into personal lives of Presidents will become our new normal,” they
said.
Top Democratic lawmaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that courts have
recognized that “the Committees’ subpoenas of the President’s financial
records are valid and enforceable.”
“We are confident that the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land,
will uphold the Constitution, the rulings of the lower courts and ensure that
Congressional oversight can proceed,” she said.