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Source: Reuters
U.S. President Trump and Finland's President Niinisto hold joint
news conference at the White House in Washington
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. speaks during a
news conference to announce the return of The Gold Coffin of
Nedjemankh, to the people of Egypt
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance subpoenaed eight years
of Trump's tax returns and other records from the president's
longtime accounting firm Mazars USA on Aug. 29 as part of a
criminal investigation. The scope of that investigation is
unclear.
Trump sued Vance last month in Manhattan federal court, saying a
sitting president is immune from criminal investigation. Vance
has moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the dispute belongs
in state court, where a grand jury issued the subpoena.
In a filing in Manhattan federal court, the Justice Department
said the dispute should stay in federal court because Trump's
claims "implicate the very relationship between the federal and
state governments," while "the state's interest in litigating
such an unusual dispute in a state forum is minimal."
The U.S. government is not a party to the case, and the Justice
Department did not take a position on whether Vance should get
the tax returns.
Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Trump, and a spokesman for Vance's
office both declined to comment on the filing.
Vance's office has agreed to not seek to enforce the subpoena
until Oct. 7, or two business days after the judge rules on
Trump's challenge, whichever comes first.
Mazars, also named as a defendant in Trump's lawsuit, said in a
statement it would "respect the legal process and fully comply
with its legal obligations." It said that as a matter of policy,
it did not comment on its work for clients.
While campaigning for the presidency in 2016, Trump broke with a
decades-old convention of candidates releasing their tax returns
publicly. His lawsuit against Vance is one of several efforts to
shield his personal finances from investigation.
Trump is separately trying to block Deutsche Bank AG from
handing over financial records for him, several members of his
family and his company to Congress. The bank has said the
records include two individuals' tax returns.
A federal appeals court in Manhattan heard arguments in that
case on Aug. 23 and has yet to rule.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Tom Brown
and Howard Goller)
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