Trump asks US Supreme Court to bar release of his tax returns
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US President Donald Trump has fought vigorously to shield his financial records.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - United States President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday (Nov 14) to bar his accounting firm from turning over eight years of his tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors.
The case, the first concerning Mr Trump's personal conduct and business dealings to reach the court, could yield a major ruling on the scope of presidential immunity from criminal investigations.
Last week, a unanimous three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled against Mr Trump, rejecting his argument that he was absolutely immune from criminal investigation while he remains in office. The court, in a focused ruling, said state prosecutors may require third parties to turn over a sitting president's financial records for use in a grand jury investigation.
Mr Trump has fought vigorously to shield his financial records, and prosecutors in Manhattan have agreed not to seek the tax returns until the case is resolved by the Supreme Court.
In exchange, they insisted on a very quick briefing schedule, one that would allow the Supreme Court to announce whether it will hear the case as soon as next month and to issue a decision by June, as the presidential election enters its final stages.
Other cases involving Mr Trump are also in the pipeline. They involve matters as diverse as demands from House Democrats for tax and business records, a request for access to redacted portions of the report prepared by special counsel Robert Mueller, and challenges to Mr Trump's business arrangements under the Constitution's emoluments clauses.
On Wednesday, the full US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to rehear a ruling from a divided three-judge panel that Trump's accounting firm must comply with the House Oversight and Reform Committee's demands for eight years of his financial records.
A lawyer for Mr Trump said he would appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court, too.
The prosecutors are looking into hush-money payments made to two women just before the 2016 presidential election. Mr Trump and his company, the Trump Organisation, reimbursed his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, for payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump.
Cohen was also involved in money paid to Ms Karen McDougal, a Playboy model.
Prosecutors say they need the documents to decide whether the payments violated state laws.
