Trump Lawyers Once Again Ask Supreme Court to Block Tax Return Subpoena
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Trump’s lawyers are still trying every legal trick in the book to prevent—or at least stall—the release of his tax returns. They applied to the Supreme Court Tuesday for an emergency stay order on a federal judge’s decision that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance could access the returns—months after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s argument that he was immune from criminal probes as a sitting president. The new request challenges a previous ruling that Vance’s subpoena was not overreaching and says Trump’s right to confidentiality will suffer “irreparable harm” if the stay is not granted. Since The New York Times obtained most of the president’s tax returns last month, showing he paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017, and had not paid taxes in 11 of the 15 years examined, Vance’s inquiry has somewhat diminished in urgency to the public. Nevertheless, the new Supreme Court filing is yet another roadblock for Vance, whose inquiry is probing possible financial crimes by Trump.