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- A major blow has been dealt to Donald Trump’s long-standing efforts to conceal his finances as the U.S. Supreme Court rules to enforce a subpoena that would require the handover of the former president’s tax returns
- The ruling directs Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, to provide the materials to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance
- Trump has called Vance’s investigation “the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country”
- The New York Times reported last year that he had paid just US$750 (roughly A$947) in federal incomes taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and none at all in 10 of the prior 15 years
- Vance’s investigation had initially focussed on hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal before the 2016 election, but has since been expanded to include fraud and the falsification of business records
A major blow has been dealt to Donald Trump’s long-standing efforts to conceal his finances as the U.S. Supreme Court rules to enforce a subpoena that would require the handover of the former president’s tax returns.
Without comment, the justices rebuffed Trump’s request to delay a lower court ruling on October 27 which direct’s his accounting firm, Mazars USA, to provide the materials to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
“The work continues,” Vance — a Democrat — said in a statement after the order was given.
Trump has called Vance’s investigation “the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country,” and accused New York Democrats of focusing on taking down a political opponent instead of tackling violent crimes.
“That’s fascism, not justice — and that is exactly what they are trying to do with respect to me, except that the people of our country won’t stand for it,” he added.
Trump is not required to do anything, since the records involved in the dispute were requested from a third-party (Mazars), not Trump himself.
A spokesman for Mazars said the company “remains committed to fulfilling all of our professional and legal obligations.”
Unlike all previous U.S. presidents, Trump has refused to make his tax returns public, which would provide detailed information about his wealth and the activities of his family real-estate company, the Trump Organisation.
The New York Times reported last year that he had paid just US$750 (roughly A$947) in federal incomes taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and none at all in 10 of the prior 15 years, reflecting massive business losses that were used to avoid making payments.
Initially, Vance’s investigation had focussed on hush money paid by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen before the 2016 election to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom said they had sexual encounters with Trump.
But in recent court filings, Vance indicated that the probe is now much broader and takes into account potential bank, tax and insurance fraud, as well as the falsification of business records.
