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Trump Taxes: President Ordered to Turn Over Returns to Manhattan D.A. | Trump Taxes: President Ordered to Turn Over Returns to Manhattan D.A. |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A federal judge on Monday rejected a bold argument from President Trump that sitting presidents are immune from criminal investigation, the first significant ruling in a case that could require Mr. Trump to hand over his tax returns and ultimately test the limits of presidential power. | |
Judge Victor Marrero of Manhattan federal court dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed by Mr. Trump seeking to block a subpoena for eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns. The Manhattan district attorney demanded the records in late August as part of an investigation into hush-money payments made in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. | |
In a 75-page ruling, Judge Marrero called the president’s argument that the Constitution shields sitting presidents from any criminal investigation “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.” Presidents, their families and businesses are not above the law, wrote the judge. | |
Mr. Trump’s tax returns, however, remain protected for now. His lawyers quickly appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, which agreed to temporarily block the subpoena while it considers initial arguments in the case. | |
The case has pitted the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., against the president and his Justice Department and raised a host of issues that have not been tested in the courts. The Constitution does not explicitly say whether presidents can be charged with a crime while in office, and the Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue. | |
Frank O. Bowman III, a law professor at the University of Missouri, noted that Judge Marrero concluded that Mr. Trump’s claims of immunity from criminal inquiry were so sweeping, they could potentially include not only a president but also anyone who might have worked alongside him in any wrongdoing. | |
“Marrero’s careful opinion is a long refutation of the idea that this is, or should be, the law,” said Professor Bowman, who is also the author of “High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump.” The judge was appointed by President Bill Clinton. | |
The judge’s decision came a little more than a month after Mr. Vance subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his personal and corporate returns dating to 2011. | |
Mr. Vance’s office has been investigating whether any New York State laws were broken when Mr. Trump and his company reimbursed the president’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, for payments he made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels, who had said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump has denied having an affair with her. | |
Mr. Trump’s lawyers sued last month to block the subpoena. The lawyers acknowledged that their constitutional argument had not been tested, but said presidents have such enormous responsibility and a unique position in government that they cannot be burdened with investigations, especially by local prosecutors who might be politically motivated. | |
The case also drew in the Justice Department, which did not take a position on the merits of the president’s argument but supported his request to delay enforcement of the subpoena because of the “significant constitutional issues.” | |
A lawyer for the president and a spokesman for Mr. Vance both declined to comment on Monday, as did a spokeswoman for the Justice Department. | |
“This case presents momentous questions of first impression regarding the presidency, federalism and the separation of powers,” a lawyer for the president, Patrick Strawbridge, wrote to the appeals court in requesting that the judges block the subpoena. He said the losing party should be given time to appeal to the Supreme Court. | |
The decision was a victory for Mr. Vance, whose office had asked Judge Marrero to dismiss Mr. Trump’s suit, saying the president was intentionally delaying the subpoena. | |
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have called the investigation by Mr. Vance, a Democrat, politically motivated. Mr. Vance has accused the president and his team of trying to drag out the investigation until the statute of limitations runs out on any possible crime. | |
Federal prosecutors are barred from charging a sitting president with a crime because the Justice Department has decided that presidents have temporary immunity while they are in office. | Federal prosecutors are barred from charging a sitting president with a crime because the Justice Department has decided that presidents have temporary immunity while they are in office. |
But in the past, that position has not precluded investigating a president. Mr. Trump and other presidents have been the subjects of federal criminal investigations while in office. Local prosecutors, such as Mr. Vance, are also not bound by the Justice Department’s position. | |
The president and his lawyers have fought vigorously in other venues to shield his tax returns, which Mr. Trump said during the 2016 campaign that he would make public but has since refused to disclose. | |
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have sued to stop attempts by congressional Democrats to gain access to his tax returns and financial records and to block a New York State law that would share state tax returns with congressional committees. They also successfully challenged a California law requiring presidential primary candidates to release their tax returns. | |
If Mr. Vance ultimately prevails in obtaining the president’s tax returns, they would not automatically become public. The documents would be protected by rules governing the secrecy of grand jury investigations unless the documents became evidence in a criminal case. | |
Mr. Trump’s accounting firm, which he sued along with the district attorney’s office to bar the company from turning over his returns, reissued the statement it released nearly three weeks ago when the lawsuit was filed, saying it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.” | Mr. Trump’s accounting firm, which he sued along with the district attorney’s office to bar the company from turning over his returns, reissued the statement it released nearly three weeks ago when the lawsuit was filed, saying it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.” |