WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to shield him from a New York grand jury’s demand to see his tax returns and other financial records, setting the stage for a constitutional clash over whether the president has “absolute immunity” from being investigated or prosecuted.
It is the first of two appeals from Trump that seek to protect his tax returns from investigators. The House Oversight Committee has been seeking the same records, and on Wednesday, the full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington refused to block the subpoena. Trump’s lawyers said they would appeal that case to the Supreme Court as well.
The justices are not required to hear Trump’s appeal or to decide the cases. But the pair of appeals when put together raise significant questions about the constitutional separation of powers and whether the president has a privacy right to shield his personal records from congressional investigators or state prosecutors.
If the justices vote to hear Trump’s plea, it could result in a major election-year ruling on whether a president is above the law while in office.
“We have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the 2nd Circuit decision regarding a subpoena issued by the New York County district attorney,” said Jay Sekulow, counsel to the president. “The 2nd Circuit decision is wrong and should be reversed.”
The Supreme Court has never before said the president was immune or shielded from all investigations while in office. However, the Constitution says the president may be removed from office only through impeachment by the House and a conviction in the Senate.
The New York prosecutors who sought the tax returns are expected to file a response within 10 days. Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers are expected to move quickly to appeal the ruling involving House investigators. The justices may take some time to decide what to do.
The New York investigation does not concern Trump’s actions as president. Rather, District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is said to be investigating hush-money payments to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump. As part of its investigation, the grand jury sought eight years of the Trump Organization’s financial records from Mazars USA, its accounting business, including Trump’s personal tax returns.
Even if the grand jury’s subpoena is upheld and Mazars complies with the order, it does not mean Trump’s tax returns will be made public. The grand jury operates under a rule of confidentiality.
In the filing Thursday, William Consovoy, a private attorney for Trump said the court should decide whether the New York subpoena violates the Constitution. “There has been broad bipartisan agreement, for decades if not centuries, that a sitting president cannot be subjected to criminal proceedings.”
A federal district judge and a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals flatly rejected the claim of immunity. The judges pointed out that beginning with Thomas Jefferson in 1807, presidents have been required to respond to court orders seeking documents.
