SCOTUS Stays House Subpoena For Trump Tax Returns

US President Donald Trump speaks after signing a tax reform bill in the Oval Office of the White House December 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SM... US President Donald Trump speaks after signing a tax reform bill in the Oval Office of the White House December 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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The Supreme Court agreed to block temporarily a congressional subpoena for the President’s financial records as it awaits a response from House attorneys seeking years of President Trump’s tax returns.

Personal attorneys for President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to stay the subpoena — issued by the House Oversight Committee — until the court could decide whether to take up the case.

A D.C. federal judge and a subsequent appellate court have both denied requests from Trump to strike down the document demand, issued to his longtime accountant Mazars USA LLP.

Trump has not yet formally asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal in the case. Rather, he has asked for the enforcement of the subpoena to be delayed while his legal team prepares to appeal.

In its Monday ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the House to respond to Trump’s request for a stay by Thursday at 3 p.m.

The case is one of many revolving around the status of Trump’s tax returns. The President filed a similar request for a stay on Thursday, asking the Supreme Court to delay enforcement of a state-level criminal subpoena for his financial records — also to Mazars — issued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Though all the cases focus on the issue of whether Trump’s taxes will be released to various investigating bodies, they encompass broader questions around presidential power, the rule of law, and whether long-settled issues over the legality of investigating the president will remain in place.

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