Former President Trump blasted the Supreme Court order on Monday for allowing the “fishing expedition” to happen after declining to block a New York prosecutor from obtaining his personal and corporate tax returns, calling the investigation “a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country,” and vowed to “fight on.”
In a lengthy statement, Trump slammed past investigations that had plagued his presidency, mentioning former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe in what he called a “never-ending $32 million Mueller hoax,” and the “two ridiculous ‘Crazy Nancy’ inspired impeachment attempts,” before noting the ongoing inquiry from the New York grand jury into his tax records.
“It never ends!” Trump said in the statement issued from the Office of 45. “So now, for more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction I’ve ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S.”
The former president noted the recent Supreme Court order, saying they “never should have let ‘fishing expedition’ happen,” especially from a Democratic state that is fully “controlled and inspired by a reported enemy of mine — Gov. Andrew Cuomo.”
“The Supreme Court never should have let this ‘fishing expedition’ happen, but they did,” Trump said. “This is something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo.”
Trump lambasted New York elected officials for only focusing on “the persecution of President Donald J. Trump,” while they have “nothing is done” regarding the “record numbers” of murders and violent crime being up in New York City.
“The new phenomenon of ‘headhunting’ prosecutors and AGs—who try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weapon—is a threat to the very foundation of our liberty. That’s what is done in third-world countries. Even worse are those who run for prosecutorial or attorney general offices in far-left states and jurisdictions pledging to take out a political opponent. 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.”
“I will fight on, just as I have, for the last five years (even before I was successfully elected), despite all of the election crimes that were committed against me. We will win!” Trump added.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued a brief, unsigned order that rejected a last-ditch attempt by Trump’s lawyer to shield the former president’s financial record and clearing the way for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr, who has been seeking since 2019 to obtain Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns.
The ruling from the Supreme Court with no dissents noted, now gives Vance the power to require Trump’s longtime accountant firm, Mazars USA to turn over the records or documents related to his investigation.
“The work continues,” Vance said in a three-word statement in response to Monday’s Supreme Court order.
The subpoenas span documents from Mazars USA dating back over eight years from January 2011 to August 2019 of the former president’s personal and corporate tax records, including Trump’s tax returns, and documents related to the Trump Organization’s employment of Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen and hush money payment made during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women — porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump years ago.
Last July, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s legal team argument that Trump while in office is immune from any part of the criminal justice system, including grand jury investigations. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a subpoena from Vance for eight years of Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns.
The New York case in the Supreme Court arose after Vance, issued a grand jury subpoena last year to Mazars USA for the president’s personal and business tax returns as well as other financial documents. Trump’s lawyers filed multiple lawsuits to block the subpoena, arguing that sitting presidents are immune from the criminal process. They also argued that the subpoenas issued by Vance was overbroad and issued in bad faith
In October, a federal judge in New York ruled against Trump’s renewed effort to get the subpoena tossed out, ruling Trump’s legal attack argument was merely a repackaged version of his original immunity argument. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed the federal judge’s ruling.
Trump’s personal lawyers then took the case back to the Supreme Court, filing an “emergency application” in urging the justices to put the lower court ruling on hold while the justices considered whether to take up the appeal. Lawyers for Vance pointed to the New York Times articles published in late September that claimed to have seen Trump’s tax return, showing that the former president only paid $750 in 2016 and 2017, while avoided paying federal income taxes 11 out of the 18 years.
The scope of the Manhattan DA’s investigation and his inquiry into Trump’s tax record is still known. The hush payments to Stormy Daniels and McDougal led partly to Vance’s office to investigate, but according to court filings, it also suggests that the Manhattan DA are mostly investigating the former president’s financial records to see if he conducted potential crimes such as tax and insurance fraud.
45Cyrus Vance Jr.Donald TrumpGov. Andrew CuomoImpeachmentManhattan District AttorneyMazars USAMueller's InvestigationNew YorkNew York TimesOffice of 45President TrumpStormy DanielsSupreme CourtTax AffairsTax InvestigationsTrump v. MazarsWitch Hunt
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