Sep 24, 2019

Manhattan DA urges judge to dismiss Trump lawsuit over tax returns

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. at a news conference in New York City in April. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance asked a federal judge in a court filing Monday to reject President Trump's attempts to stop New York prosecutors from subpoenaing his corporate and personal tax returns.

Details: Trump sued Vance last Thursday in an effort to block New York prosecutors from obtaining 8 years of his tax returns from his longtime accounting firm Mazars USA. Vance said in the filing addressing Trump's lawsuit that the president was trying to be covered by a "sweeping immunity" that is not provided by law.

"[Trump] is, in fact, seeking to invent and enforce a new presidential 'tax return privilege,' on the theory that disclosing information in a tax return will necessarily reveal information that will somehow impede the functioning of a president."

— Excerpt from Cyrus Vance's court filing

Context: The New York Times first reported this month that Vance's office had subpoenaed the tax returns for its investigation into hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Courthouse News first reported news of Vance's court filing Monday.

The big picture: Per Axios' Zachary Basu, the New York case is the third Trump lawsuit designed to block the release of his tax returns.

In July, Trump filed a lawsuit against House Democrats and the state of New York over a law that would permit tax officials to turn over his state tax returns.
In May, a federal judge in Manhattan declined a request by Trump, his family and his company to block Deutsche Bank from complying with a congressional subpoena for his financial records.

Go deeper: Trump sues House Democrats to block release of state tax returns

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Rebecca Falconer

DOJ asks judge to temporarily block NY Trump tax returns subpoena

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Justice Department asked a federal judge Wednesday to temporarily block a subpoena from New York prosecutors seeking to obtain 8 years of President Trump's personal and corporate tax returns from his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA.

Details: In a filing, obtained by Talking Points Memo, Justice Department special counsel Joshua Gardner argues such action would raise several "significant constitutional issues that potentially implicate important interests of the United States" and should be decided in a federal, not state, court.

Go deeperOct 3, 2019

Axios

Appeals court grants Trump stay in legal fight over his tax returns

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted President Trump an emergency stay Monday after the president lost a key court ruling over his tax returns, reports Bloomberg.

The state of play: A New York federal judge ruled earlier in the day that Manhattan's district attorney could subpoena 8 years of the president's personal and corporate tax returns from his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA.

Go deeperUpdated Oct 7, 2019

Axios

Judge temporarily blocks California presidential tax returns law

Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

A federal judge issued an opinion Tuesday that a new California law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on primary ballots likely violates the U.S. Constitution, as he temporarily blocked it. But Californian officials told AP they would appeal the ruling.

The big picture: The move is a win for President Trump, who filed a lawsuit against California in August to block implementation of the law. U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. of the Eastern District of California indicated in a preliminary injunction he issued last month on the law that he would likely rule in favor of Trump, per Bloomberg.

Go deeperOct 2, 2019