Those federal judges are getting a little big for their britches! It's getting rather annoying, actually. Seems like every time Trump tries to pass a new law, boom, federal judge blocks it. Now a federal judge is ruling that Trump "must" hand over his tax returns as well as other documents to New York City prosecutors.
Federal Judge Victor Marrero does not accept the argument made by Trump's attorneys, stating that he is immune from criminal prosecution as well as being criminally investigated by a state prosecutor while he is president.
“As the court reads it, presidential immunity would stretch to cover every phase of criminal proceedings, including investigations, grand jury proceedings and subpoenas, indictment, prosecution, arrest, trial, conviction, and incarceration,” Marrero said.
“That constitutional protection presumably would encompass any conduct, at any time, in any forum, whether federal or state, and whether the President acted alone or in concert with other individuals," he continued.
Marrero added that he “cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process as being countenanced by the nation’s constitutional plan, especially in the light of the fundamental concerns over excessive arrogation of power that animated the Constitution’s delicate structure and its calibrated balance of authority among the three branches of the national government, as well as between the federal and state authorities.”
Cue the eyeroll.
The returns had been sought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. His office is investigating the Trump Organization’s involvement in buying the silence of two women who claimed to have had affairs with the president. In August, the Manhattan district attorney’s office issued a grand jury subpoena to the president’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for the president’s tax filings and other financial documents.
President Trump’s lawyers have said the investigation is politically motivated and that the quest for his tax records from January 2011 to the present should be stopped because he is immune from any criminal probe as long as he is president.
Of course it's politically motivated! The Democrats have been working to impeach Trump since the day he won the election back in 2016!
The president’s legal time immediately appealed the ruling and was granted a temporary stay of enforcement of a grand jury subpoena by the U.S. Circuit Court for the Second Circuit.
President Trump slammed the ruling on Twitter. He wrote, “The Radical Left Democrats have failed on all fronts, so now they are pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump. A thing like this has never happened to any President before. Not even close!”
The Radical Left Democrats have failed on all fronts, so now they are pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump. A thing like this has never happened to any President before. Not even close!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019
Jay Sekulow, Trump's lawyer, told NBC: “We are very pleased that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a stay of the subpoena issued by New York District Attorney Cy Vance.”
