The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that President Donald Trump's tax returns must be provided to a grand jury in New York.
The New York Times reports that the Supreme Court came to a 7-2 decision that Trump's business records and tax returns cannot be blocked from release. Trump has attempted to bar the release of his financial records for years, making today a defeat for the President. "Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” wrote chief justice John Roberts of the first 7-2 opinion that Trump isn't immune to grand jury requests, the Guardian reports.
"We reaffirm that principle today and hold that the President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need," Roberts added.
In a second 7-2 decision, relating to a separate case, Roberts called for sending the case to a lower court. This is arguably good news for Trump, as the case now won't be settled until after the elections this November. This would mean there's no public release of his financial information until then, too. Both of these cases will be subject to further review in the lower courts. Both cases relate to a set of subpoenas that sought information from Trump's accountants and bankers, but not from Trump himself. Firms have so far made it seem as they they will cooperate with the court's ruling.
In an unsurprising move, Trump discussed the decisions on Twitter in a series of tweets. "The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue," he wrote. "This is all a political prosecution. I won the Mueller Witch Hunt, and others, and now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this presidency or Administration! Courts in the past have given 'broad deference.' BUT NOT ME!"
Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann noted that the past six presidents in question had "voluntarily released their tax returns to the public," making Trump's refusal to comply all the more bizarre. "While we do not place dispositive weight on this fact, it reinforces our conclusion that the disclosure of personal financial information, standing alone, is unlikely to impair the president in performing the duties of his office," Katzmann added.
