Appeals court hears fight over Trump tax returns — again
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court tested the waters on a potential compromise, but didn’t immediately rule Friday after arguments in President Donald Trump’s long- running fight to prevent a top New York prosecutor from getting his tax returns — a battle that seems destined to return to the Supreme Court.
A Trump lawyer argued that a subpoena for the records is overly broad but balked when an appellate judge suggested the court might be able to alleviate that concern by limiting the scope of documents being sought.
Mr. Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, signaled they will be satisfied only if Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is barred from getting all of the requested records. Mr. Consovoy is seeking to have the case sent back to a lower court that last month rejected his attempt to quash the subpoena, arguing that judge erred in his ruling.
If the three- judge panel refuses to put a hold on the enforcement of the subpoena, Mr. Trump’s lawyers will be forced to ask the Supreme Court to prolong the legal fight. The high court is down to eight justices after the death last week of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers appealed to the 2nd U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a district court judge last month rejected their renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena that Mr. Vance’s office issued to Mr. Trump’s accounting firm as part of a grand jury investigation into his financial and business dealings.
The appellate judges appeared to meet Mr. Consovoy with a fair amount of skepticism, reminding him of the wide latitude grand juries are given to investigate potential wrongdoing. Judge Robert Katzmann suggested Mr. Trump’s lawyer was asking the court “to change the way grand juries have done their work time immemorial just because we’re dealing with somebody who’s president of the United States.”
Mr. Trump’s lawyers maintain that the subpoena seeking eight years of the president’s corporate and personal tax returns amounts to a “fishing expedition.”