Court won’t intervene for now on Trump tax records

NEW YORK – A federal appeals court said Friday it wouldn’t step in right away to delay New York prosecutors’ effort to get President Donald Trump’s tax records, potentially leaving the Supreme Court as his most promising option to block prosecutors’ subpoena.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to immediately put Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s subpoena on hold while Trump appeals to try to get it invalidated.

The appeals court said it would hold a hearing on the request for a delay, but not until Sept. 1. After winning a lower court ruling, Vance’s office had agreed not to enforce the subpoena before Aug. 28.

The DA’s office declined to comment on what the appeals court ruling might mean for that time frame. Messages were sent to Trump’s lawyers.

The case has already been to the Supreme Court and back, and Trump has said he expects it to end up there again.

Even if the tax records ultimately are subpoenaed, they would be part of a confidential grand jury investigation and not automatically made public.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that the presidency in itself doesn’t shield Trump from Vance’s investigation.

But the high court returned the case to a Manhattan federal judge’s courtroom to allow Trump’s lawyers to raise other concerns about the subpoena. They did, arguing that it was issued in bad faith, might have been politically motivated and amounted to harassment.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected those arguments Thursday – and

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