Trump Panics After Subpoena For Tax Return Accepted By Judge

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President Donald Trump’s month just keeps getting worse for him — but better for those concerned with getting to the bottom of the corrupt behavior he’s engaged in while in office! This week, a D.C.-area federal appeals court asserted that a subpoena from House Democrats for Trump’s tax returns can stand, meaning that the long sought documents that for some reason the president has tried so desperately to conceal may finally be about to come out!

Two out of three of the judges assigned to the case ruled in favor of the House, and the only who didn’t — Neomi Rao — was appointed by Trump himself to the court after he plucked Brett Kavanaugh from the bench for a nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the majority opinion, which included the support of Judges David Tatel and Patricia Millett, Tatel wrote:

‘Contrary to the President’s arguments, the Committee possesses authority under both the House Rules and the Constitution to issue the subpoena, and Mazars must comply.’

Rao countered with her own formal minority opinion that demonstrates just how off kilter she really seems to be, condemning an onward march of “legislative power.”

As former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal put it on Twitter:

‘Dissent is kind of whackadoodle. “The familiar tale recounted by the majority describes a general arc of expanding legislative powers…” On what planet have folks in last 50 yrs feared expanding legislative (as opposed to executive) power? This is nuts+profoundly antidemocratic’

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Seemingly being able to get the tax returns is getting closer but isn’t here yet. There’s still an option for the Trump team to seek a rehearing of the case by either the same three judges from the D.C. appeals court or a panel with every judge who’s a part, and as part of the new majority ruling, the judges included a provision that enforcement of the subpoena they upheld would be delayed until a week after processing a petition for one of those options.

The Trump team could also seek to take the case to the next level, which means appealing to the Supreme Court. Despite the conservative majority ensured by Trump’s two nominees to the bench, considering the standing rulings by a federal judge and an appeals court, getting the Supreme Court to suddenly rule in favor of Trump may be arduous at best.

Although House Democrats have been after Trump’s personal financial records for some time, seeking more information about allegations of bank, insurance, tax fraud and more against him, they’ve since been swamped by another investigative concern — the Ukraine scandal. As has been well circulated by now, Trump has attempted to get Ukraine to produce dirt on the Bidens, even withholding already approved military aid while exerting that pressure.

The subsequent formal impeachment inquiry has included a whole host of other subpoenas on top of the ones already in place like that one for Trump’s tax returns. There’s also a standing subpoena for the documents from Manhattan area District Attorney Cy Vance, who’s looking into possible state crimes committed as part of the infamous hush money scheme targeting women with whom Trump had affairs.

Featured Image via screenshot