Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. may have an opportunity to search President Trump’s financial records much earlier, after Chief Justice John Roberts granted his request Friday to expedite a court decision. Supreme that Trump is not immune to criminal investigations.
The Supreme Court struck the President last week when he ruled that Vance and New York prosecutors could go ahead with his eight-year subpoena of Trump’s financial records and tax returns from his accounting firm Mazars USA.
But the court imposed the final decision on whether to issue the subpoena to the Manhattan federal court, where Trump’s attorneys and Vance’s office returned this week to continue their legal battle.
Vance’s office is investigating whether Trump paid secret money before the 2016 election to several women with whom he allegedly had relationships.
Most Supreme Court sentences take 25 days to take effect after the court’s opinion is published, but Vance asked judges on Wednesday to put the decision into effect immediately, fearful that a subpoena for 10 months, issued last September, will be canceled if the statue of limitations passes.
In his letter to the court, Vance warned that any delay could grant Trump the “absolute temporary immunity that this court rejected.”
“Every day that compliance with the Mazars Citation is delayed increases the likelihood that the grand jury will not receive the documents it sought ten months ago in a timely manner,” he wrote.
Trump’s legal team has vigorously defended the case, unsuccessfully suing Vance’s office and appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court.
The president’s attorneys argue that the subpoena is a politically motivated fishing expedition designed to harass and humiliate Trump ahead of the November election.
The case continues.
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