Trump erupts after Supreme Court rules to release his tax returns: ‘Not fair to this Presidency!'
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable meeting with Hispanic leaders in the Cabinet Room, Thursday, July 9, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
President Trump fired in all directions Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled to release his tax returns, claiming he’s a victim of “political prosecution” and accusing Democrats, New York prosecutors and former FBI officials of “spying” on him.
The president made the unsubstantiated charges in a fusillade of frantic tweets after the high court gave the green light for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr., to subpoena eight years’ worth of the president’s personal and corporate tax returns as part of a criminal investigation.
“This is all a political prosecution. I won the Mueller Witch Hunt, and others, and now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!” Trump tweeted.
Listing off a usual cadre of his perceived enemies, Trump went on, “We have a totally corrupt previous Administration, including a President and Vice President who spied on my campaign, AND GOT CAIGHT (sic) and nothing happens to them ... Major horror show REPORTS on Comey & McCabe, guilty as hell, nothing happens. Catch Obama & Biden cold, nothing.”
Bill Christeson holds up a sign that reads "Follow the Money" outside the Supreme Court, Thursday, July 9, in Washington. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Manhattan district attorney can obtain Trump tax returns while not allowing Congress to get Trump tax and financial records, for now, returning the case to lower courts. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
Providing zero evidence to back up his outlandish claims, Trump capped off the Twitterstorm: “We catch the other side SPYING on my campaign, the biggest political crime and scandal in U.S. history, and NOTHING HAPPENS. But despite this, I have done more than any President in history in first 3 1/2 years!”
Despite Trump’s claims to the contrary, there’s no information to suggest President Barack Obama’s administration spied on his 2016 campaign. Rather, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation after coming across a string of peculiar contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian government operatives, who were interfering in the election to help the president win against Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s return to his old unsubstantiated allegations contrasted reactions from Democrats, who were relieved that the Supreme Court affirmed that Vance can get his hands on the president’s long-sought financial records.
“No one is above the law,” tweeted House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
Mayor de Blasio offered a similar sentiment.
“Donald Trump’s the only public servant in America who thinks he can get away with withholding his financial disclosure. It’s outrageous,” the mayor said at a press briefing from City Hall. “It’s been perverse and I applaud the Supreme Court.”
The Supreme Court gave Trump a partial victory in ruling in a separate case that three Democrat-led House committees cannot, at least for now, subpoena a similar set of tax returns and financial records from the president.
Instead, the justices said it would send that case back to a lower court to address outstanding and complex separation of powers issues, meaning Trump’s tax returns likely won’t be publicly released before November’s election, since Vance is beholden to strict grand jury secrecy protocols.
But Trump appeared too upset to appreciate the second ruling.
“The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue,” he wrote as part of his Twitterspree. “Courts in the past have given ‘broad deference.’ BUT NOT ME!”
Chris Sommerfeldt is a reporter covering national politics and the Trump administration. He started working for the Daily News in May 2015 as a city desk reporter.”
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