Trump Lawyers Will Keep Fighting Tax Records Subpoena

They say SCOTUS ruling left room for challenges
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 15, 2020 2:42 PM CDT
Trump Lawyers Plan to Keep Fighting Tax Subpoena
President Trump speaks during a law enforcement briefing on the MS-13 gang in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 15, 2020, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A week after losing a Supreme Court ruling, President Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they're considering challenging subpoenas for his tax records by criminal prosecutors on grounds that the subpoenas are a fishing expedition or a form of harassment or retaliation against him. The plans were outlined in a letter to a Manhattan federal judge overseeing legal squabbles related to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s request for eight years of Trump's personal and corporate tax records in a criminal probe, the AP reports. Vance is seeking the records from Trump's accountant in part for a probe of payments that Trump’s then-personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged during the 2016 presidential race to keep two women from airing their claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.

Lawyers for the president noted that the Supreme Court in its ruling last week said they can raise arguments that the subpoenas seek too much information, or are designed to impede Trump's constitutional duties or harass, manipulate, or retaliate against him. "The President intends to raise some or all of these arguments," the lawyers wrote. Lawyers for the prosecutor wrote that Trump’s lawyers are asking for more than they are allowed. They said Trump's lawyers are basing their plans on a concurring opinion that conflicts with the Supreme Court's majority opinion in the case, and that the lower-court judge already rejected the same arguments Trump's lawyers are suggesting they might make.

(More President Trump stories.)

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