TRUMP v. MAZARS USA, LLP was concluded today in a 7-2 decision which will send the fight over Congressional subpoenas back to the lower court, Chief Justice Roberts offered the opinion with Justices Thomas and Alito dissenting.
BREAKING PT. II: SCOTUS revived the fight over congressional subpoenas for Trump’s records, finding lower courts didn’t properly consider separation of powers issues. This kicks it back for more proceedings — so House Dems don’t get Trump’s records for nowhttps://t.co/OtUa6RR2cS pic.twitter.com/2OyDNomONm
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) July 9, 2020
BREAKING: Supreme Court deals a blow to congressional subpoena power, seeks a more careful “balanced” approach to protect separation of powers. pic.twitter.com/FN13kU0FwU
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 9, 2020
The President’s lawyers had argued that Congress’ subpoenas served no legitimate purpose because no new law would be expected to result from the inquiry and that the doctrine of separation of powers prohibited the House from seeking personal documents about the President of the United States even when those documents were not subject to executive privilege and were held by third parties.
Congressional lawyers maintained the use of subpoenas was justified by their Constitutional authority and the pursuit of legislative investigation into potential malfeasance, in this case the investigation of discrepancies in filings by President Trump required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, may result in law changes.
In TRUMP v. VANCE the court in a 7-2 decision found in favor of the New York District Attorney, establishing that investigations into criminal wrongdoing by a sitting President may not be indefinitely postponed until the President has left office.
But, the New York District Attorney will not have access to the documents sought anytime before the upcoming election.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court ruled prosecutors in New York can subpoena Trump’s tax returns. This is a blow to Trump, who argued for immunity, and DOJ, which argued for a higher standard for this type of subpoena — the majority rejected both arguments. https://t.co/OtUa6Rzrlk pic.twitter.com/uE4ZesWhaN
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) July 9, 2020
President Who Thinks he was Defeated Badly on Thursday has weighed-in on Twitter. [He has tweeted a crap-ton, two are directly related to the Supreme Court decision].
Chief Justice Roberts offered the opinion of the court, with Justices Thomas and Alito dissenting.
Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both Trump appointees offered this:
Editors note: This was a joint post between Alien and Tiff. Any mistakes in the editing process are Tiff’s (and yes, it felt weird typing in the third person).
