Surely there must be more pressing issues in the country than partisan Democrats getting their grubby hands of President Trump's tax returns.
It appears that the Supreme Court agrees.
The Court just denied the fast track attempts by Democrats to receive a ruling on the fight over these documents.
From NBC News:
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will not speed up the process for getting President Donald Trump's legal battle with House Democrats over the president's business records back into the lower courts.
The House legal counsel had asked the court to immediately put into effect its decision this month that said while Trump did not have an absolute right to refuse to comply with legitimate congressional subpoenas for documents, Congress also did not have unlimited authority to seek materials from a president because its demands must be connected to a legitimate legislative purpose.
The ruling sent the case back to the lower courts, where the scope of the House subpoenas is likely to be narrowed.
Supreme Court decisions ordinarily do not take effect legally until 25 days after the rulings are issued, which in this case would be Aug. 3. Three House committees that sought Trump's taxes and other records told the Supreme Court that their investigations "are ongoing, remain urgent, and have been impeded by the lack of finality in these litigations, which were initiated in April 2019."
But on Monday, in a one-sentence order, the court denied the request. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she would have granted it.
The court took the opposite course with a request from the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who is also seeking Trump's business records. Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday granted Vance's request to immediately issue the Supreme Court's judgment in that case. No dissents were noted from chief justice's order.
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The court's brief orders do not state the reasons for its actions, but it’s likely the court was persuaded by Vance's argument that he needed to get back into court quickly because the grand jury could lose its ability to bring charges due to statutes of limitations.The grand jury is seeking Trump's business and personal tax records for an investigation of payments made to two women who claimed they had affairs with him — allegations the president has consistently denied. Vance was said to be looking at whether the payments violated state tax or business regulations. The Supreme Court rejected the president's claim that he was absolutely immune from local criminal investigations."
CNBC details how it was nearly a unanimous decision by the Justices to deny the Democrats:
The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed an effort by House Democrats to speed up the process by which they can continue to fight for President Donald Trump’s financial records in lower courts.
The justices denied a request from attorneys for several Democratic-led congressional committees to finalize the court’s ruling from earlier in the month that blocked the enforcement of their subpoenas. The committees had issued them to obtain financial information from the president’s longtime accounting firm and banks.
The court rejected the Democrats’ request in an unsigned order, with only Justice Sonia Sotomayor noting that she would have granted it.
The top court ruled July 9 that the federal appeals courts in Washington and New York that upheld the Democrats’ subpoenas did not properly address issues related to the Constitution’s separation of powers. The Supreme Court permitted the committees to try again under a stricter standard, which they have said they intend to do.
The July 9 ruling effectively ensured that the public would not see Trump’s financial records ahead of the November election. Monday’s action served to make such a possibility even less likely. Trump, who is facing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, is the first president in decades not to make his tax returns publicly available.
Also July 9, the justices ruled in favor of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in a separate case over access to the president’s records, rejecting Trump’s claims of immunity from the subpoenas but allowing him to raise new objections. Both decisions were 7-2. Vance’s office has said it is investigating potential violations of state law but has provided few details.
Typically, Supreme Court judgments go into effect 25 days after rulings are issued, which is Aug. 3 in the tax records cases.
Douglas Letter, the general counsel to the House of Representatives, asked the court to put the judgment into effect immediately, noting that the current Congress’ term expires in January. Letter wrote in court papers that the committees’ opportunity to seek the president’s records “diminishes by the day.”
The House oversight, intelligence and financial services committees have said they are seeking the president’s financial records to inform potential legislation and as part of investigations into foreign money laundering and foreign interference in U.S. elections.
In a filing asking the top court to rule immediately, Letter wrote that doing so would allow the House to obtain records needed “to address, among other issues, conflicts of interest that threaten to undermine the Presidency, money-laundering and unsafe lending practices, and foreign interference in U.S. elections and any other ongoing threats to national security arising from President Trump’s foreign financial entanglements.”
William Consovoy, an attorney for Trump, urged the justices to reject the effort by House Democrats.
“The Committees voluntarily stayed enforcement of the subpoenas for more than six months as these cases made their way through the lower courts,” Consovoy wrote in a filing. “They should not be heard to complain that the proceedings are moving too slowly.”
It's not like nobody has seen any of Donald Trump's financial records.
In 2016 he would have submitted financial disclosures to the Federal Election Commission.
This is just another Witch Hunt, "Gotchya!" investigation, thankfully our Founders were wise enough to create 3 equal branches of government.
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