OnPolitics: Trump's financial records again find the spotlight

Friday, July 10

District of Columbia resident Bill Christeson, holds a banner in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Trump's financial records find the spotlight again

The Supreme Court dropped three major decisions in the span of a few minutes and the ripples are far-reaching.

The Supreme Court's 2019 term is officially over and it went out with a bang.

The decisions in three high-profile cases came in rapid succession Thursday morning, starting with a decision that ruled the eastern portion of Oklahoma can be considered Native American territory. The decision is considered a major victory for tribes, and the majority opinion was written by Trump appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Quickly after, two decisions regarding President Donald Trump's financial records split opposite ways.

First, in a 7-2 ruling, the court ruled Trump cannot keep his tax returns and financial records from a New York City prosecutor.

"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," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "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."

Neither Gorsuch nor the other Trump-appointee on the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined Roberts' opinion. Instead, they wrote a separate concurring opinion.

The court case stems from a subpoena that was made as part of a criminal probe of alleged hush-money payments that Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, said were made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both women claimed they had affairs with Trump, which he denied. Two lower courts upheld the subpoenas.

But in another case that had a decision released minutes later, the court temporarily blocked congressional access to Trump's person financial records. That also was a 7-2 ruling, with Roberts again writing the majority opinion.

So what does that all mean? Our White House reporters David Jackson and John Fritze and Supreme Court reporter Richard Wolf described it like this:

The 7-2 decisions ... allowed Democrats to claim a legal victory: Trump, the court ruled, cannot withhold his tax returns and other financial records from prosecutors. But in practical terms, the rulings meant that the court battle over disclosure would continue likely well past the Nov. 3 election.

Never a dull day. Thanks, as always, for reading. - Annah Aschbrenner

Discover more with our newsletters: Get the latest headlines, things to do and more in your inbox. Sign up here.