The Supreme Court could take the case up during its current term. (Photo by Win McNamee)
Topline: President Donald Trump’s legal team and the Manhattan district attorney trying to get his tax returns came to an agreement Monday that could send the case up to the Supreme Court, Politico reported, and a decision could be made before the 2020 election.
- According to Politico, Trump’s lawyers agreed to petition the Supreme Court within 10 days if they lose an appeal set to be argued Wednesday instead of dragging the case out.
- Trump’s legal team also said they would petition the Supreme Court to hear the case this term, making it possible for a decision to be handed down before the 2020 election if the case gets taken up.
- In exchange, Vance said his office would delay enforcing a subpoena issued to Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA.
- The Manhattan DA, Cryus Vance, is seeking eight years of the president’s personal and business returns as part of a grand jury investigation into hush money payments made to women who allege they had affairs with Trump.
- A lower court ruled Mazars had to hand over the documents, and judges on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals are hearing an appeal to that decision Wednesday.
Key background: Trump is one of two presidents over the past 40 years who hasn’t voluntarily released his tax returns. The other, Gerald Ford, released summary tax data, not his full tax returns. Democrats are fighting court battles on multiple fronts to get Trump’s records, but so far their efforts have failed.
Further reading: Read the full agreement from Politico.
What’s next: Any one of the lawsuits Democrats have filed involving Trump’s tax returns could make it up to the Supreme Court. But there is no guarantee the court would even take up the case or hear arguments in time for the election.