This has gone off the hook….
It is as if these lawyers are arguing that Donald Trump is the King, immune from ANY oversight except impeachment?
Of course they’re talking this stance because they know they have the votes in the US Senate to vote against convicting Trump from impeachment charges…
Oh, and several Federal courts have denied their position that the US Congress can’t even demand to check on a President’s financial records, or tax records…
Absent impeachment, Congress’ subpoena of the president’s financial records from his accounting firm Mazars USA LLP should be held invalid as the Oversight and Reform Committee has no legitimate legislative reason to obtain them, Trump’s lawyers continue to argue, as they did before losing in district court.
The committee has provided numerous legislative reasons to subpoena Trump’s financial records in its legal briefs. Specifically, the committee says it is pursuing the records to determine if the president lied on his mandatory annual financial disclosure reports and whether any legislation is necessary to fix any loopholes or provide more transparency on presidential finances. The committee passed the For The People Act in 2019 to expand disclosure requirements and provide statutory support for the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution.
Trump’s lawyers, however, argue that these legislative purposes should be discarded because, according to them, they are unconstitutional. In fact, the president’s lawyers say the already existing presidential financial disclosure laws are unconstitutional.
The president lost using these arguments before Mehta and also in a separate district court case regarding a subpoena for the president’s bank records.
“[T]here can be little doubt that Congress’s interest in the accuracy of the President’s financial disclosures falls within the legislative sphere,” Mehta wrote.
These cases appear headed to the Supreme Court and Trump’s appeal brief contains a Trumpian appeal to the personal interest of the justices there.
It argues that justices should be concerned about Congress subpoenaing their personal financial records if they allow the subpoena for Trump’s financial information to stand….