WASHINGTON, July 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The US Supreme Court ruled on
Thursday that President Donald Trump must hand over financial records
to prosecutors in New York. In a 7-2 ruling, the court said the
president does not have absolute immunity from criminal investigation.
The nation’s highest court also issued a ruling in a separate case
concerning a request by Democratic-led congressional committees for
Trump’s tax returns and financial records.
In a 7-2 ruling and a partial victory for Trump, the court sent the
congressional case back to a lower court for further consideration.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, has asked for
eight years of the president’s financial records in connection with an
alleged “hush money” payment made to porn actress and former Playboy
model Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s attorneys had claimed the president was immune from
criminal investigation — a claim rejected by the court.
“Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established
that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the
common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal
proceeding,” the court said. “We reaffirm that principle today.”
Vance called the ruling “a tremendous victory for our nation’s
system of justice and its founding principle that no one – not even a
president – is above the law.
“Our investigation, which was delayed for almost a year by this
lawsuit, will resume, guided as always by the grand jury’s solemn
obligation to follow the law and the facts, wherever they may lead,”
Vance said.