Supreme Court orders Donald Trump to reveal tax returns

US Supreme Court rules Donald Trump must hand over 8 years of tax returns to prosecutors investigating potential tax fraud.

Donald Trump must hand over eight years of tax returns to New York prosecutors investigating potential tax, insurance and bank fraud by the former president and his businesses, the US Supreme Court has ruled.

In a one-sentence order the nine justices rejected Trump’s final legal effort to shield his personal and corporate tax details from Cyrus Vance Jr, the Manhattan district attorney.

In 2016 Trump became the first presidential candidate for four decades to refuse to release his tax data, maintaining that stance in the 2020 election by saying his records were under audit.

In July the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s claim that he had absolute immunity from state and local criminal investigations while serving as president.

The defunct Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino is imploded in Atlantic City. Picture: Getty Images.

Monday’s ruling does not mean that his tax records will be made public immediately, because they have been sought for a grand jury inquiry, which is held in secret. Details will emerge if charges lead to open court prosecution. A leak of Trump’s personal tax details to The New York Times showed that a reason for the audit was a disagreement over whether he should have received a tax refund of $72.9 million.

Vance, an elected Democrat, issued a subpoena for Trump’s tax records in August 2019. He is believed to be looking into whether his companies broke state law, as well as allegations that he paid hush money in the run-up to the 2016 election to two women who claimed to have had affairs with him.

Trump is banned from Twitter but his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, tweeted: “So the Supreme Court will allow the political persecution for Donald Trump by vindictive partisan democrats to continue. If they can keep a witch hunt against Trump going for years who cant they and more importantly who won’t they do it to???”

So the Supreme Court will allow the political persecution for Donald Trump by vindictive partisan democrats to continue.
If they can keep a witch hunt against Trump going for years who cant they and more importantly who won't they do it to???
My thoughts!https://t.co/Tdo5qGrtnq

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 22, 2021

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, alleged that the Trump Organisation manipulated property valuations, making them sound higher to lenders to maximise collateral for loans, and lower with the tax authorities to reduce property taxes.

Cohen, who was given a three-year jail sentence in 2018 for eight offences, including making the payments to the two women, also claimed that Trump committed insurance fraud. Trump and the Trump Organisation have denied all the allegations.

Merrick Garland, President Biden’s nominee for attorney-general, told his Senate confirmation hearing on Monday that no president was above the law and that he would conduct investigations entirely independently from the White House.

Garland, 68, was President Obama’s nominee for a Supreme Court seat in March 2016, in a process blocked by Republicans, who argued that it was too close to that November’s election. He faces several big decisions over matters from the Trump presidency, including whether to continue with inquiries into the origins of the investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia, Trump’s potential criminal liability for the January 6 storming of the Capitol and into the tax affairs of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

Garland said that investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the January 6 riot would be his priority. He added: “We begin with the people on the ground and we work our way up to those who are involved and further involved. And we will pursue these leads wherever they take us.”

Asked by Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, if he had discussed the Hunter Biden case with the president, Garland said he had not. He added: “The president made abundantly clear … that decisions about investigations will be left to the justice department. That was the reason I was willing to take on this job.”

The Supreme Court also brought a formal end to the final eight disputes brought by Trump and his supporters arising from November’s election, rejecting all their appeals.

The Times