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At the urging of several non-profit groups advocating for increased public access to federal court proceedings, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed to allow a livestream audio of Wednesday’s oral arguments in the case for President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in August subpoenaed eight years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns from the [resident’s finance firm Mazars USA as part of an investigation into whether Trump or the Trump Organization violated state laws in connection with the hush payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.
Trump’s attorneys filed the appeal with the Second Circuit after U.S. District judge Victor Marrero earlier this month denied the president’s request to prevent Vance’s office from enforcing the subpoenas demanding his tax returns. Marrero rejected the “extraordinary claim” that Trump, as president, was completely immune from complying with any criminal proceedings against him or his businesses.
“The President asserts an extraordinary claim in the dispute now before this Court,” Marrero wrote in his 75-page opinion. “He contends that, in his view of the President’s duties and functions and the allocation of governmental powers between the executive and the judicial branches under the united States Constitution, the person who serves as President, while in office enjoys absolute immunity from criminal process of any kind.”
Trump’s attorney’s restated many of those same arguments in an appeal to the Second Circuit.
Vance’s office reportedly issued the subpoenas in August and interviewed the president’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen about “whether the Trump Organization violated state laws regarding the hush money payments to [McDougal and Daniels].” New York prosecutors visited Cohen soon after issuing subpoenas to the Trump Organization and American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer.
Oral arguments are set to take place Wednesday Oct. 23 at 10:00 a.m., and will be livestreamed via CSPAN.
[image via ROBERTO SCHMIDT_AFP_Getty Images]
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