Supreme Court says NY prosecutor can obtain Trump's financial records

WASHINGTON • The US Supreme Court has firmly rejected President Donald Trump's arguments for sweeping presidential immunity and ruled that a New York prosecutor can obtain his financial records, but prevented - at least for now - Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting hold of similar documents.

Thursday's twin 7-2 rulings authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts mark another milestone in Mr Trump's tumultuous presidency. They prevent, in the short term, details of his finances from becoming public because lower courts must resolve lingering issues.

The businessman-turned-politician, who is seeking re-election on Nov 3, has fought tenaciously to keep his tax returns and other elements of his finances secret.

The rulings spare him any major revelation at a sensitive time.

But looking further ahead, he faces possible future criminal prosecution in his native New York, perhaps after he leaves office.

The Supreme Court emphasised that there are limits to the powers of the presidency and stoutly reaffirmed the principle that not even the president is above the law - a message delivered 3 1/2 years into a presidency in which Mr Trump has repeatedly skirted the norms of American political conduct.

His two Supreme Court appointees, conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined Chief Justice Roberts and the four liberal justices in both rulings, spurning Mr Trump's arguments that the Constitution gave him absolute immunity from any criminal proceedings as a sitting president.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, and three House committees all issued subpoenas to third parties for the records, not to the Republican President himself.

Mr Trump sued to block enforcement of the subpoenas.

The court in the New York case said the subpoena to Mr Trump's long-term accounting firm, Mazars, for tax returns and other financial records to be turned over to a grand jury as part of Mr Vance's criminal investigation can be enforced.

The justices rebuffed Mr Trump's claims of expansive presidential powers in a showdown with Congress as he tried to block subpoenas by lawmakers to Mazars and two banks - Deutsche Bank and Capital One - for his financial records.

In doing so, the court also faulted the broad arguments made by the House and sent the litigation back to lower courts, delaying the final outcome.

Mr Trump has portrayed himself as a victim, calling the subpoenas a "pure witch hunt" and a "hoax".

He wrote on Twitter: "This is all a political prosecution... and now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!"

His argument that he is immune from any criminal process "runs up against the 200 years of precedent establishing that presidents, and their official communications, are subject to judicial process", the Chief Justice wrote.

"We affirm that principle today and hold that the president is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need."

Unlike other recent presidents, Mr Trump has refused to release his tax returns and other documents that could provide details on his wealth and the activities of his family real estate company, The Trump Organisation.

Mr Jay Sekulow, Mr Trump's personal lawyer, said he would "raise additional constitutional and legal issues in the lower courts".

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Democrats will continue to investigate Mr Trump and seek to enforce the subpoenas.

REUTERS