New York prosecutors obtained Donald Trump’s tax records, boosting investigation
Trump has fought years to keep his tax returns under wraps.
New York prosecutors now have former President Donald Trump’s tax records coming after a lengthy court battle representing an expected boost to a wide-ranging investigation into Trump’s finances and the operations of the Trump Organization.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance confirmed that the records were obtained on Monday when the Supreme Court refused Trump’s request to block a subpoena for the records.
Advertisement
Vance spokesman Danny Frost declined to comment more.
As a part of an investigation into alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential election, Vance sought several years of Trump’s tax returns and financial documents, in addition to a broader review of possible criminal activity at the Trump Organization.
After losing the legal battles in the lower courts, Trump’s attorneys had asked the high court to intervene in the case. The US Courts of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled in early October that Trump’s accountant, Mazars USA, must comply with the subpoena, rejecting Trump’s claims that it was too broad and was issued in bad faith to harass him.
Trump has fought years to keep his tax returns under wraps. He said Manhattan prosecutors’ inquiry was a “witch hunt”.
Trump in a statement said, ” The Supreme Court never should have let this ‘fishing expedition’ happen, but they did. This is something that has never happened to a president before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State.
Because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, the records with prosecutors may not become public.
The Manhattan investigation is one of the several inquiries confronting Trump, including a criminal inquiry in Georgia in which state prosecutors are reviewing whether Trump tried to influence state election officials to tilt the Georgia vote in his favor.