Proving that the court system is designed to work better for rich folks, wealthy men like Donald Trump with too much money and too little sense of responsibility love to tie up court cases, filing and refiling objections and arguments until those trying to hold them accountable finally give up. But when those trying to hold you accountable are part of the criminal justice system, the cases aren’t just lawsuits and the plaintiffs don’t just run out of money.
💜You love to see it. As mentioned after the SCOTUS case came down, I expect Vance will have those Trump tax returns and financial records before the electionhttps://t.co/Hg5dAn8rzT
— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) September 25, 2020
In the southern district of New York, the investigation of Donald Trump for potential campaign finance violations and tax fraud drags on as Trump’s attorneys argue over and over against handing over the president’s tax returns, an argument that has already made it’s way all the way up to the Supreme Court and lost. At this point, the appeals court in New York indicated on Friday that they’ve had enough of the arguments and excuses.
According to the NY Daily News:
‘The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ran out of patience Friday with Trump’s legal challenges to Vance’s subpoenas on his longtime accounting firm.
‘Although no final ruling was issued, all three judges on the panel appeared deeply skeptical of arguments by Trump attorney William Consovoy.
‘Judge Raymond Lohier wondered if there was any subpoena Trump would consider justified.’
Breaking NYT: The Manhattan district attorney's office, which has been locked in a yearlong legal battle with Trump over obtaining his tax returns, has suggested for the first time that it had grounds to investigate him and his businesses for tax fraud. https://t.co/IJvZS0TiuH
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 21, 2020
The Trump attorneys have argued that District Attorney Cy Vance is politically motivated, that the power given to the grand jury to review possible charges has been too broad, and that the entire investigation is nothing more than a political hit job. Grand juries generally look at the evidence without a firm directive to focus on a single crime but to look at all crimes that could possibly be indicated by the evidence at hand. Trump’s lawyers have argued against that practice in this case.
‘Judge Robert Katzmann scoffed at Trump’s claim that the grand jury Vance is using to investigate the Trump Organization should be limited in scope. The grand jury is probing the company’s accounting practices, among other issues.
‘“Grand juries, as you know, are given broad authority to do their work. Are you asking us to change the way grand juries have done their work for time immemorial just because someone is President of the United States?” Katzmann asked.’
Judge asks district attorney why he didn’t take Trump’s tax returns weeks ago https://t.co/Z5okz9XL3R
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 25, 2020
Of course, Trump’s first argument was simply that he cannot be charged with a crime as president, almost as if he truly believes that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and suffer no consequences, as he once bragged during a political rally. Judges in the appeals court weren’t receptive to that idea, either.
‘Trump sued to block the subpoenas over a year ago, arguing that he was entitled to broad immunity from criminal investigation while in the White House. The Supreme Court rejected that claim in July.
‘“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 Roberts wrote in an historic decision.’
Even Trump’s own draft picks, Gorsuch & Kavanaugh, ruled AGAINST him in his tax returns case. The federal judges will not be bullied into corruptly throwing the election to Trump. If they do, they are making the judicial branch a second class branch of government. #NotGonnaDoIt https://t.co/BkIlKmZXZ3
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) September 25, 2020
