Trump told to give financial records to prosecutors

The US Supreme Court has ordered Donald Trump to release his financial records to New York prosecutors.

It is a major defeat for the US president who has fought for years to shield them from scrutiny.

In a 7-2 ruling on Thursday, the country’s top court said the president did not have absolute immunity from criminal investigation.

“Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” the court said. “We reaffirm that principle today.”

Mr Trump said in a tweet that he was the victim of “a political prosecution”.

In a second ruling, which also passed by a margin of 7-2, the court said Mr Trump can block the release of his financial records to Congress, which has been seeking access to them for more than a year.

Congressional investigations have raised questions about whether Mr Trump has sensitive financial exposure to Russia, and also whether he has used questionable accounting loopholes to avoid paying taxes in the 1990s and 2000s.

Mr Trump’s two Supreme Court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined the majority in both cases along with Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices.

The ruling returns the case to lower courts, with no clear prospect for when the case might ultimately be resolved.