"Two rulings clear the way for prosecutors in New York to see President Trump’s financial records, but the justices stopped Congress for now.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for prosecutors in New York to see President Trump’s financial records in a stunning defeat for Mr. Trump and a major statement on the scope and limits of presidential power.
The decision said he had no absolute right to block release of the papers and will take its place with landmark rulings that required President Richard M. Nixon to turn over tapes of Oval Office conversations and forced President Bill Clinton to provide evidence in a sexual harassment suit.
“No citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts wrote for the majority.
He added that Mr. Trump may still raise objections to the scope and relevance of the subpoena. Litigation over those new objections could last many months or longer.
In a separate decision the court ruled that Congress could not, at least for now, see many of the same records. It said the case should be returned to a lower court to narrow the parameters of the information it sought.
The chief justice wrote the majority opinions in both cases, and both were decided by 7 to 2 votes. The court’s four-member liberal wing voted with him, as did Mr. Trump’s two appointees, Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented in both cases.
Despite the court’s rulings, it is likely that president’s records will be shielded from public scrutiny until after the election, and perhaps indefinitely.
How the court ruled
The court ruled in two cases, 7 to 2, that President Trump can for now block the release of his financial records to Congress but that prosecutors in New York may see them.
Liberal Bloc
Sotomayor
Ginsburg
Kagan
Breyer
Conservative Bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Alito
Gorsuch
Thomas
Mr. Trump had asked the court to block both sets of subpoenas, which had sought information from Mr. Trump’s accountants and bankers, not from Mr. Trump himself; the firms have indicated that they would comply with the court’s ruling.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers had argued that he was immune from all criminal proceedings and investigations so long as he remained in office and that Congress was powerless to obtain his records because it had no legislative need for them."
Supreme Court Rules Trump Cannot Block Release of Financial Records - The New York Times
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