Trump’s legal team said it did not have an immediate position on the House’s request and that it needed more time to review it, Letter said, and urged judges to set an expedited schedule for the president’s attorneys to intervene.
“The immediate issuance of the judgments of this Court,” he continued, “would speed up the procedures in the lower courts so that the Committees can obtain the necessary materials to carry out the necessary legislative reforms as quickly as possible to address, among other matters, conflicts of interest that threaten to undermine the Presidency, money laundering and unsafe lending practices, and foreign interference in the US election and any other continuing threats to national security arising from President Trump’s foreign financial entanglements. ”
The higher court ruling appeared to condemn efforts by Democrats to obtain Trump’s financial records before the 2020 election, and any renewed consideration in lower courts is likely to continue for months. But the House’s effort to quickly revive the matter suggests they are still urgently addressing the case.
Although Letter does not suggest that the House is linking his request to obtain Trump records before the election, he emphasizes in the filing that Congress’ term ends on January 3, 2021.
“[T]The window of opportunity for the Committees to litigate arrests in these cases, then obtain and review the cited documents, assess their importance to potential or pending legislation, draft such legislation or amendments, and guide that legislation through the bicameral process diminishes day by day, “he wrote.
The Supreme Court said the judiciary had never had to consider the appropriateness of a request by Congress for a president’s documents because such disputes in the past had always been resolved without litigation. With little history to guide them, the judges in a 7-2 ruling said legislators must carefully tailor any request for documents from a president, detailing why they are necessary to inform the legislative process and ensuring that their requests are closely tailored, without seek more than is necessary to report your efforts.
