NEWS
High court: NY can get Trump financials
Richard Wolf
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court
ruled Thursday that President Donald
Trump cannot keep his tax returns and
financial records away from a New York
City prosecutor pursuing possible hush-
money payments during the 2016 White
House race.
The court temporarily blocked con-
gressional investigators from gaining
access to many of the same records. It
sent the effort by House Democrats
back to a lower court for further review
of the separation of powers between the
executive and legislative branches.
Both 7-2 decisions were written by
Chief Justice John Roberts and joined
by Trump’s two nominees, Associate
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett
Kavanaugh. The court’s two other con-
servatives, Associate Justices Clarence
Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented.
The landmark rulings carry political,
legal and constitutional implications for
the president, Congress and law en-
forcement officials who argued the rec-
ords could reveal evidence of criminal
wrongdoing. For the time being, they
Justices block Congress’ access to Trump’s records – for now
Richard Wolf
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court
temporarily blocked congressional in-
vestigators Thursday from gaining ac-
cess to President Donald Trump’s per-
sonal financial records.
The 7-2 decision was written by Chief
Justice John Roberts and joined by
Trump’s two nominees, Associate Jus-
tices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
It sends the separation of powers dis-
pute back to lower courts for further de-
termination.
“Courts must perform a careful
analysis that takes adequate account of
the separation of powers principles at
stake, including both the significant leg-
islative interests of Congress and the
‘unique position’ of the president,” Rob-
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mean the public won’t see Trump’s fi-
nancial documents: Grand jury investi-
gations are secret, and three House
committees won’t get the records in the
midst of the presidential campaign.
“Two hundred years ago, a great ju-
rist of our court established that no citi-
zen, not even the president, is categor-
ically above the common duty to pro-
duce evidence when called upon in a
criminal proceeding,” Roberts wrote.
“We reaffirm that principle today and
hold that the president is neither abso-
lutely immune from state criminal sub-
poenas seeking his private papers nor
entitled to a heightened standard of
need.”
Kavanaugh and Gorsuch did not join
the majority opinion’s reasoning. Kava-
naugh wrote separately for the duo,
stressing that Trump’s lawyers can raise
new arguments at the district court lev-
el.
Even so, Kavanaugh was adamant
that Trump is not immune from the law.
“In our system of government, as this
court has often stated, no one is above
the law,” he said. “That principle ap-
plies, of course, to a president.”
In dissent, Thomas said the New
erts wrote.
The ruling was one of two issued
Thursday regarding whether investiga-
tors will have access to Trump’s finan-
cial records. In the other, the court ruled
7-2 that Trump cannot keep tax and fi-
nancial records from a Manhattan
prosecutor investigating alleged hush-
money payments during the 2016 White
House race.
House Democrats argued the records
could reveal evidence of criminal
wrongdoing or lead to legislation on
Capitol Hill.
The president, acting through his
personal legal team, refused to comply
with subpoenas from three House com-
mittees seeking information from his
accountant and bankers.
During oral arguments held by tele-
phone in May because of the coronavi-
USA TODAY ❚ FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 ❚ 5A
York case should be returned to lower
courts to determine whether Trump’s
duties as president should preclude
compliance with the grand jury subpoe-
na. Alito was more adamant that it
should be struck down.
“The subpoena at issue here is un-
precedented,” Alito said. “Never before
has a local prosecutor subpoenaed the
records of a sitting president. The
court’s decision threatens to impair the
functioning of the presidency and pro-
vides no real protection against the use
of the subpoena power by the nation’s
2,300+ local prosecutors.”
Trump, through his personal legal
team, has refused to comply with the
subpoena from Manhattan District At-
torney Cyrus Vance seeking informa-
tion from his accountant and bankers.
One of those attorneys, Jay Sekulow,
sought to portray Thursday’s rulings as
a victory because lower courts still have
a role to play.
Vance heralded the ruling as “a tre-
mendous 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 de-
rus pandemic, conservative and liberal
justices alike wondered how to balance
congressional oversight powers against
the president’s claim of a need to be free
from distracting, harassing, probes.
The legal battle pits Trump against
three House committees controlled by
Democrats that issued subpoenas for
eight years of financial documents.
Lawmakers claim the records will help
determine the need for legislation in
areas such as campaign finance law,
bank loan practices and efforts to pre-
vent foreign influence in elections.
The House Committee on Oversight
and Reform issued a subpoena to Ma-
zars USA, Trump’s accounting firm,
more than a year ago, seeking financial
records from the president, his family
business, a trust and the company that
runs Trump International Hotel in
layed 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,” he said.
Trump called Vance’s investigation
“a political prosecution.” The president
said, “Now I have to keep fighting in a
politically corrupt New York. Not fair to
this Presidency or Administration!”
During oral arguments held by tele-
phone in May, conservative and liberal
justices alike wondered how to balance
investigators’ need for evidence against
the president’s claim that he must be
free from probes.
In previous battles over documents
or testimony, the Supreme Court ruled
unanimously against Presidents Rich-
ard Nixon in 1974 and Bill Clinton in 1997,
with their nominees in agreement.
Vance’s subpoenas came as part of a
criminal probe of alleged hush-money
payments that Michael Cohen, Trump’s
former lawyer, said were made to adult
film star Stormy Daniels and former
Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both
women claimed they had affairs with
Trump, which he denied. Two lower
courts upheld the subpoenas.
Washington. Two federal courts upheld
the subpoena.
Trump’s former personal lawyer, Mi-
chael Cohen, testified before Congress
that as a private citizen, Trump routine-
ly overstated or understated his hold-
ings for financial gain. The panel wants
to compare eight years of financial doc-
uments to Cohen’s testimony and gov-
ernment disclosures.
The House Financial Services Com-
mittee and the House Intelligence Com-
mittee issued subpoenas to Deutsche
Bank and Capital One more than a year
ago, seeking records from Trump, his
three oldest children and the Trump Or-
ganization. The panels are probing risky
lending practices by major financial in-
stitutions and efforts by Russia to influ-
ence U.S. elections. They, too, have been
upheld twice in lower courts.





















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