BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court rules Donald Trump MUST turn over his tax returns to Stormy Daniels hush money prosecutors in stunning 7-2 defeat – with his own SCOTUS picks Kavanaugh and Gorsuch voting against him
The Supreme Court dealt a stunning blow to Donald Trump Thursday by ruling that his private accounting firm must hand over tax return information that and prosecutors had demanded.
The court ruled 7-2 that Trump is not immune from subpoenas, in an opinion that tested both the power of local prosecutors and Congress to obtain information.
The opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts; the two who dissented were Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
The court handed Trump the defeat in a politically-consequential case on the last day of its term, wrapping up a session where Trump scored wins and some notable losses.
The ruling has immediate implications for Trump, who must face the voters in just four months – and now must prepare to contend with explosive reports about his sprawling business empire, multiple bankruptcies, and whatever else may emerge from the materials.
The case are Trump v. Deutsch Bank, AG and Trump v. Vance, named for New York District Attorney Cy Vance, who also hit the institutions with subpoenas for Trump tax information. He is probing whether Stormy Daniels was paid hush money.
Landmark decision: The ruling on Donald Trump’s tax returns is the final and likely to be the most consequential of this term on the Supreme Court
Only a single Trump tax return – from 1995 – has been revealed, through a leak
In the Vance case, there were issues that could play out even beyond Trump’s reelection – with the possibility that the tax information could be used to seek a grand jury criminal indictment if any wrongdoing is uncovered.
The New York Times, in an exhaustive story reported after the leak of Trump’s father Fred Trump’s tax returns by Trump niece Mary Trump, concluded the future president engaged in ‘dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.’
Prosecution case: Manhattan district attorney launched the bid to seize Donald Trump’s tax returns over allegations of hush money to Stormy Daniels to talk her talking about her claim that this photograph was followed by them having sex while Melania was at home with Barron