This Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Manhattan authorities could access President Donald Trump’s tax returns, although they technically referred the case for further proceedings. They made the opposite initial ruling in a case over whether or not Congressional investigators could access the same material. A majority of the justices on the court blocked Congress from accessing the president’s financial records; in the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “Congressional subpoenas for information from the President… implicate special concerns regarding the separation of powers.” In a public statement following the ruling, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — whose committee was partly behind the subpoena effort — zeroed in on the Supreme Court’s overall support of Congressional investigative power, and he insisted that he’s confident that his side will eventually prevail.
Schiff commented:
‘No one is above the law, not even the President of the United States. Nor are they immune from congressional oversight or criminal investigation, no matter how much they endeavor to delay or evade them… While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court abandoned its prior precedent and promulgated a new standard for Congressional subpoenas implicating the President, we are grateful that the Court reaffirmed Congress’ broad power to investigate in aid of its legislative authority.’
Schiff went on to note that the specific financial records that the House Intel Committee has been seeking from Deutsche Bank “are critical to its investigation of whether foreign actors, particularly Russia, have leverage over President Trump.” Trump’s financial records could help shine a light on his potential conflicts of interest, including financial ties to Russia and Russian businesspeople that he might like to sweep under the rug.
Schiff added:
‘The Supreme Court’s remand of this case to permit the lower courts to apply the new standard will serve to delay the Committee’s investigation… but we remain confident that we will ultimately prevail. And in light of the President’s tweets this morning, he appears to believe the same.’
Trump promptly freaked out on Twitter over the Supreme Court’s decision.
Check out Schiff’s statement below:
No one is above the law, not even the President of the United States.
Nor are they immune from congressional oversight or criminal investigation, no matter how much they endeavor to delay or evade them.
My statement on the Supreme Court decision this morning: pic.twitter.com/a31B0sgSIX
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 9, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below:
