Courts in the past have given “broad deference”. BUT NOT ME!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, found that a New York Grand Jury can access President Trump’s tax returns. President Trump has kept his tax returns private since his original run for president in 2015. Democrats have made a quest of obtaining them since.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance had subpoenaed eight years of Trump’s tax returns in connection to investigations regarding money paid to women Donald Trump had had extramarital affairs with. The money was allegedly paid to keep the women quiet about the relationships.
President Trump argued presidents enjoy “absolute immunity” from criminal probes while in office. The Court today shot down that assertion.
“In our judicial system, ‘the public has a right to every man’s evidence,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “Since the earliest days of the Republic, ‘every man’ has included the President of the United States.”
The Court did however block House Democrats’ efforts to see Trump’s taxes. While affirming Congress’ rights to seek information from the Executive Branch, such requests cannot be overly broad and should have a clear legislative interest the the Court said, something the current request does not.