President’s Attorney Will Take Tax Return Lawsuit to SCOTUS

CNBC reports that a federal appeals court ruled Monday that President Donald Trump’s tax returns must be turned over to a state grand jury.

The three-judge appeals panel in New York rejected Trump’s argument that he is immune as president from criminal investigation while in the White House.

The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that any immunity Trump might be entitled to against criminal prosecution didn’t apply to a state grand jury subpoena to his accounting firm. They rejected his argument that there was a “serious stigma” associated with being the “target” of a criminal investigation.

“Even assuming, without deciding, that a formal criminal charge against the President carries a stigma too great for the Constitution to tolerate, we cannot conclude that mere investigation is so debilitating,” 2nd Circuit Chief Judge Robert Katzmann wrote for the court.

Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said that the president would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sekulow issued the following statement Monday morning: “The decision of the Second Circuit will be taken to the Supreme Court. The issue raised in this case go to the heart of our Republic. The constitutional issues are significant.”

There are two pending cases on this issue. The President lost two, won another, and now it heads for the Supreme Court if they will take it up.

The litigants claim the House Intelligence Committee has a valid legislative purpose in determining whether Trump is compromised by money laundering for foreign nationals. There is no evidence that he has, and this appears to be a fishing expedition.

The committee is also looking to see if the President inflated his assets and erased liabilities.

“ROVING INQUISITION?”

In the previous case he lost, the dissenting judge said it creates the danger of a ‘roving inquisition.”

Trump-appointed Judge Neomi Rao said there is a lack of legislative purpose since the committee has not invoked its impeachment power.

“Throughout our history, Congress, the president, and the courts have insisted upon maintaining the separation between the legislative and impeachment powers of the House and recognized the gravity and accountability that follow impeachment,” Rao wrote.

“Allowing the committee to issue this subpoena for legislative purposes would turn Congress into a roving inquisition over a co-equal branch of government.”

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