A federal judge rejected President Trump’s new argument attempting to halt a subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., seeking personal financial documents from his accounting firm on Thursday.
Judge Victor Marrero, a Clinton appointee, noted Mr. Trump tried to claim absolute immunity from the grand jury subpoena served on his accounting firm, Mazars USA, which sought eight years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, but the Supreme Court rejected the president’s argument that he was immune from criminal probes earlier this year.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is reportedly investigating the personal finances and business dealings of the president and his family to see if state law was violated.
After losing at the high court, Mr. Trump filed a second legal complaint, attempting again to dismiss the grand jury subpoena. This time, the president argued the subpoena was issued in bad faith and was overbroad.
Judge Marrero said the president’s attorneys contended the special obligations of the president make him “entitled to corresponding special treatment in the application of judicial process.”
“The Court finds no merit in these claims as they relate to the facts relevant to this action. In the prior proceedings, the President raised substantially the same or similar arguments, which the Court rejected,” Judge Marrero wrote.
Mr. Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow said they will appeal.
The ruling takes Mr. Vance another step closer to obtaining the records, but it is unlikely that would happen before the November election.
Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday the subpoena is a “fishing expedition.”
“This is a continuation of the witch hunt, the greatest witch hunt in history. There’s never been anything like it,” the president said. “So we’ll probably end up back in the Supreme Court. But this is just a continuation of the most hideous witch hunt in the history of our country.”
• Thomas Howell contributed to this report.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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