Donald Trump: Judge dismisses lawsuit to block the release of tax returns

Among the topics that Donald Trump has often evaded was the subject of the Trump Organization’s tax returns, with his legal team making firm attempts to block its release. However, the latest suit that opposes the release has been dismissed by a federal judge.

CNN reports that federal judge Victor Marrero ruled against Trump in his lawsuit to block the release of his financial records. This means that New York state prosecutors will be granted access to his personal and corporate financial records. This gives Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance a chance to access the records before the November elections.

An hour following Marrero’s ruling, Trump appealed again, asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for emergency help. The president has cited “consideration for the Presidency itself” as a reason to delay the subpoena. However, Marrero dismissed Trump’s attempt to utilize the court system to delay the probe. Marrero placed a prohibition for Trump to revise his lawsuit in such a way that it would be active regardless of losing several attempts.

Marrero stated that this tactic of Trump’s “amounts to absolute immunity through a back door, an entry point through which not only a President but also potentially other persons and entities, public and private, could effectively gain cover from the judicial process.”

The judge also dismissed Trump’s claims that Vance’s subpoena would benefit Democrats who have long wanted to expose his tax returns for political purposes. Marrero explained that there are not enough facts to associate the subpoena being issued to Trump’s accounting firm Mazars to the efforts in helping the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Trump has asked the Supreme Court for the ability to block his critics from his Twitter account. In a high-court filing by the administration, they stated that Trump’s personal Twitter account is his personal property and thus should be allowed to access its features as those are independent of his public office.

In 2019, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump uses his personal Twitter account to make official announcements. However, it also noted that Trump would violate the First Amendment when he would block a critic. The Knight First Amendment Institute has urged the justices to reject Trump’s appeal.