US court orders Donald Trump to hand over tax returns
A US appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s accountants must hand over eight years worth of tax returns to New York prosecutors.
The decision is a blow to Trump, who has been repeatedly resisted calls by political opponents to publish his financial records.
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The ruling confirmed that prosecutors could enforce a subpoena for the documents against Mazars, the president’s long-term accounting firm.
The ruling states: “Because we conclude that the president is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his immunity claim, we agree with the district court that he is not entitled to injunctive relief.”
The Republican president is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, which currently has a five to four conservative majority as a result of two Trump appointments.
Cyrus Vance, the Democratic district attorney for Manhattan, has been seeking the documents as part of an ongoing criminal probe into the Trump family real estate business.
The scope of the probe is not currently public knowledge.
Vance’s office confirmed that he would not enforce the subpoena while the president petitioned the Supreme Court, which he has ten days to do.
The publication of the president’s tax returns is a tradition stretching back over 40 years. The last main party nominee to refuse to do so was Gerald Ford.
In October Democratic nomination candidate Joe Biden called on the president to release his tax returns in response to Trump’s accusations of corruption against him and his son Hunter.
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13 of Trump’s potential opponents in next year’s election have done so, including frontrunners Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Last week the House voted to move on to the next stage of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, establishing the formal process for public hearings in the investigation.
Main image credit: Getty