Can Donald Trump refuse to hand over his financial records to Congress and New York prosecutors simply because he is president of the United States?…
Can Donald Trump refuse to hand over his financial records to Congress and New York prosecutors simply because he is president of the United States? The Supreme Court will rule Thursday on two related cases to answer this, with potentially widespread political implications.
The decision by the nine justices could lift the veil on Trump’s finances ahead of the November 3 election.
Unlike all of his predecessors since Richard Nixon in the 1970s, New York real estate mogul Trump refused to release his tax returns, despite promising to do so during his 2016 White House campaign.
Trump made his fortune a key component of that campaign, and his lack of transparency raises questions about his true worth and possible conflicts of interest.
Congressional investigations have raised questions about whether Trump has sensitive financial exposure to Russia, and also whether he has used questionable accounting loopholes to avoid paying taxes in the 1990s and 2000s.
Attorneys for Trump claim the president enjoys total immunity during his time in office, and that this is necessary so he can concentrate on his work without being “harassed” by prosecutors or lawmakers.
During the proceedings, one of the attorneys even argued that the president could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in New York and not be prosecuted until he echoing a Trump 2016 campaign boast claiming that he would not lose any voters if he committed such a crime.
