“Judges ruled,” there is nothing to suggest that this is anything, especially the run-the-mill documents of assets related to the grand judicial investigation into possible financial or corporate misconduct.
“We have considered all of the President’s remaining contradictions to the appeal and found no basis for reversal,” the ruling said. A three-judge panel rejected the president’s claim with bias, meaning he could not revive it for this reason.
Tax returns and other financial records will not be immediately handed over to the plaintiff. The appellate court barred subpoena minor execution based on a joint agreement between the Manhattan District Attorney and the president’s legal team. Under the arrangement, there is a 12-day briefing schedule for Trump to ask the Supreme Court to stay the ruling. The timetable indicates that the district attorney is unlikely to get a record before the presidential election.
The president’s lawyer, Jay Seculo, said Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to stay the verdict. A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance declined to comment. A Justice Department representative said she was reviewing the verdict.
Following the Supreme Court ruling this summer, there was a recent attempt by the president to block Mazar USA’s subpoena, saying the president does not have extensive immunity from the state’s grand jury subpoena. Following the ruling, the president’s attorneys made representations to the district attorney that the subpoena is too widespread and has been charged with bad faith in an attempt to harass the president. U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero rejected those arguments last month, and Trump’s lawyers appealed.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the district attorney’s investigation was limited to the hush-money payments made by Michael Cohen to cover up Trump’s alleged activities, and that the January 2011 search of personal and business records was very extensive. Trump’s lawyers argued that the district attorney’s investigation was limited because it was sent to the Trump organization based on an earlier subpoena that only referred to money payments.
The appeals court rejected Trump’s argument, saying it was “nothing more than speculation.”
“It is reasonable to define the entire scope of a grand judge’s investigation, even in a subconscious, especially in a complex economic investigation,” the judges wrote. “
In the court filing, the district attorney’s office said the investigation is far more comprehensive than it pays and suggests it could include tax evasion, bank fraud and insurance fraud.
In anticipation that the appellate court would reject the president’s legal arguments, lawyers for both parties agreed to allow the president’s lawyers to allow the Supreme Court to “uphold” the judgment by applying the subpoena.
Under an agreement upheld by the appellate court, the president’s attorneys have five days off the calendar to make submissions to the Supreme Court, with the subpoena adjourned. The district attorney has five days to file a response soon and the president’s attorneys have two days to respond.
Consent is required to grant stay to five judges of the Supreme Court. The court currently has eight members following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Republicans in Congress are pushing to confirm Trump nominee Amy Connie Barrett to fill the seat in the next few weeks.
If the Supreme Court does not grant a stay, it is likely that Trump’s lawyers will still ask the court to hear a case on eligibility, but at that point the subpoena will be enforced and the documents will be handed over to investigators. If the court grants stay, the legal battle against the sub will then continue even without an election.
CNN’s Evan Perez and Ariane de Vauze contributed to the report.
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