Trump ploy to withhold records fails

NEW YORK: Donald Trump has suffered a major setback in his long quest to conceal details of his finances as the US Supreme Court paved the way for a New York City prosecutor to obtain the former president’s tax returns and other records as part of an accelerating criminal investigation.

The justices without comment rebuffed Trump’s request to put on hold an October 7 lower court ruling directing the Republican businessmanturnedpolitician’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, to comply with a subpoena to turn over the materials to a grand jury convened by Manhattan Districtattorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat.

‘‘The work continues,’’ Vance said after the court’s action yesterday.

Trump issued a statement describing Vance’s investigation as part of ‘‘the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country’’, accusing New York Democrats of expending their energy on taking down a political opponent instead of tackling violent crimes.