A federal judge on Thursday dismissed President Donald Trump\u2019s newest effort to block the Manhattan district attorney from gaining access to\u00a0eight years of the president\u2019s \u2026<\/b>
\nA federal judge on Thursday dismissed President Donald Trump\u2019s newest effort to block the Manhattan district attorney from gaining access to eight years of the president\u2019s tax returns and other financial records. In his 103-page ruling, U. S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that Trump\u2019s latest attempt to block New York Country District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.\u2019s subpoena for his tax returns was a roundabout way for the president to invoke immunity from judicial processes. Trump\u2019s legal team had previously argued before the Supreme Court and lower courts that a sitting president has absolute immunity from state criminal subpoenas because compliance with them would impair the performance of his presidential duties. The top court in July had already rejected the argument, saying that \u201cno citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.\u201d Although the Supreme Court rejected Trump\u2019s arguments, it left the door open for Trump to seek recourse by challenging the subpoena on other grounds. The president\u2019s legal team filed a second challenge against the subpoena in late July. Marrero, a Clinton appointee, said Trump\u2019s new claims that the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s subpoena is overbroad and hence issued in bad faith had already been thoroughly argued in the president\u2019s first complaint, and by seeking to re-argue the same issues would \u201cprolong the President\u2019s noncompliance with the grand jury\u2019s demand for the documents in dispute.\u201d \u201cThat strategy potentially would enable the clock to run on applicable statutes of limitations, risk the loss of witnesses and evidence and thus possibly foreclose law enforcement concerning any crimes under grand jury investigation,\u201d Marrero wrote (pdf). He said that the president\u2019s move embodies \u201ca novel application of presidential immunity to protect the executive branch from judicial process.\u201d \u201cAt its core, it amounts to absolute immunity through a back door, an entry point through which not only a President but also potentially other persons and entities, public and private, could effectively gain cover from judicial process,\u201d the judge wrote. He added that the president\u2019s latest challenge had to be thrown out because his claims \u201cdo not allege sufficient facts to warrant a different judgment.\u201d \u201cThat conclusion holds with special force insofar as granting the relief the President requests would effectively constitute an undue expansion of presidential immunity doctrine potentially implicating adverse public concerns,\u201d the judge wrote. Thursday\u2019s ruling represents the latest setback for Trump, who has been fighting Vance\u2019s subpoena since September last year. The prosecutor\u2019s subpoena seeks the president\u2019s tax returns and financial documents as part of a grand jury probe. It was widely believed that Vance was investigating hush money paid to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign: adult film performer Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. But recent court filings by Vance\u2019s office suggest that the scope of the Manhattan DA\u2019s probe might be broader than was previously known. Shortly after Marrero\u2019s ruling was issued, Trump\u2019s legal team filed an emergency Notice to Appeal (pdf) and a request to stay the Thursday ruling pending the appeal (pdf). In their motion for the stay, Trump lawyers told the court that they disagree with Marrero\u2019s decision and believe that there is a likelihood that the decision could be reversed on appeal. \u201cGiven the seriousness of this dispute, the status quo should be preserved so that the Second Circuit and Supreme Court can hear the President\u2019s claims,\u201d Trump\u2019s lawyers wrote. Trump responded to the ruling on Thursday, telling reporters at the Oval Office that the case would \u201cprobably end up back in the Supreme Court.\u201d \u201cThis is a continuation of the witch hunt, the greatest witch hunt in history. There\u2019s never been anything like it, where people want to examine everything you\u2019ve ever done to see if they can find that there\u2019s a comma out of place. No president has ever had to go through this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n