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On
Thursday, Trump filed a petition urging the U.S. Supreme Court
to overturn a ruling by a federal appeals court in Manhattan
allowing his longtime accounting firm, Mazars LLP, to hand eight
years of his returns over to New York prosecutors.
The case is one of several legal battles in which investigators
are seeking access to Trump's tax returns. Below are four ways
they could succeed.
1. Mazars could hand the returns over to the Democratic-led U.S.
House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
The committee subpoenaed Mazars for Trump's financial records,
including tax returns, in April. It said the committee said it
needed the records to determine if Trump - whose business
interests have ranged from real estate and golf courses to a
reality TV show - complied with laws requiring disclosure of his
assets, and to assess whether those laws need to be changed.
Trump sued in April, arguing that the committee's subpoena was
politically motivated and exceeded limits on congressional
investigative power.
A federal district court and an appeals court in Washington have
both upheld the committee's authority to enforce the subpoena.
On Wednesday, the appeals court declined to reconsider its
ruling, setting the stage for an appeal to the Supreme Court.
2. Mazars could give the returns to New York state prosecutors.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance issued a subpoena to
Mazars in August, seeking eight years of Trump's returns as part
of a criminal investigation. Trump's lawyers sued to block the
subpoena, arguing that as a sitting president, Trump had
absolute immunity from state criminal investigations.
The investigation involves alleged hush money payments made
shortly before the 2016 presidential election to two women who
have said they had sexual relationships with Trump, which he
denies.
Last month, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled that Trump was
not immune from investigation, and on Nov. 4, an appeals court
upheld that ruling, prompting Trump's petition to the Supreme
Court on Thursday.
Vance's office has agreed not to enforce the subpoena while the
appeal is pending. It has also said that if it obtains the
returns, they will remain confidential.
3. The House Ways and Means Committee could get the tax returns
from the U.S. Treasury Department.
U.S. Representative Richard Neal, chair of the committee, asked
the Treasury Department to turn over six years of Trump's tax
returns in April. Federal law states that the Treasury "shall
furnish" tax returns to Congress upon request.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has refused to hand over
Trump's returns. The committee in July filed a lawsuit in
federal court in Washington, D.C. seeking to compel the Treasury
to comply. In August, the judge overseeing the case declined to
fast-track the litigation, meaning the dispute is likely to
extend well into 2020.
4. States could obtain the returns through new laws.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom in July signed a law
requiring presidential candidates to release five years of tax
returns in order to appear on a nominating ballot in the state.
Trump sued to block the law, saying it violated the U.S.
Constitution. A federal judge sided with the president last
month, and the law remains in limbo while the state appeals.
Similarly, Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in July
signed a law requiring state authorities to hand state tax
returns over to Congress. However, Neal has said the law may not
be relevant to his inquiry, which focuses on Trump's federal
returns.
Trump sued New York's attorney general and tax commissioner in
Washington federal court over the law, but a judge on Monday
ruled he did not have jurisdiction over the state officials and
that Trump would have to sue them in New York.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Bill
Berkrot and Lisa Shumaker)
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