Trump Ordered to Turn Over Tax Records to New York Prosecutors

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The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has ordered President Donald Trump’s accountant to turn over his tax records to New York prosecutors. The court said “a stay of a lower-court decision will remain in effect so Trump’s lawyers can appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court,” according to The Associated Press.

“A district court judge had rejected their renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena that the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. issued to Trump’s accounting firm,” the newswire reported. “A Justice Department spokesperson said the department was reviewing the ruling.”

Trump had argued that a subpoena for his financial records should be blocked and alleged that he was being harassed by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who is a Democrat. The court rejected that argument.

Last month, a New York Times story documenting Trump’s years of tax avoidance was published on the eve of the first presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle.

The Times story revealed that the President, who has long established an image of himself as a billionaire and successful businessman, owes hundreds of millions in debts and used multiple tax schemes to pay only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017 according to his tax returns, which he had long declined to make public.

Shortly afterward, Trump claimed, “The Fake News Media, just like Election time 2016, is bringing up my Taxes & all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent. “