Supreme Court to Review Trump’s Bid to Keep Tax Returns Private

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider President Donald Trump’s bid to keep his financial records away from Congress and a New York grand jury, setting up a major constitutional and political showdown in the middle of next year’s election campaign. The justices said Friday they will hear appeals from Trump that raise sweeping questions about congressional and state investigations into alleged misconduct by the president. Trump is asking the court to sharply limit Congress’s powers and give the president immunity from state criminal probes while in office. The cases will test the court at a politically fraught time, with Chief Justice John Roberts already preparing to preside over a likely impeachment trial of Trump next month in the Senate. The disputes could rival the 1974 Richard Nixon tapes case for their constitutional significance. Trump is counting on the court’s conservative majority to insulate him from a criminal investigation stemming from hush payments to two women who claimed they had sex with him before he took office. Trump is also trying to stifle congressional probes into a variety of topics, and ensure that Democratic lawmakers don’t get financial documents they could then release to the public. The subpoenas, directed to Trump’s accountants and banks, seek years of his personal records, as well those of the Trump Organization and his other businesses. In the New York case, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is explicitly asking for Trump’s tax returns. The court will hear arguments, probably in late March or early April, and rule by the end of June. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL: Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ Email us at [email protected] QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.