New York prosecutors agree to put request for Trump tax returns on hold

[September 27, 2019]  By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York prosecutors have agreed to put on hold their bid to enforce their subpoena seeking U.S. President Donald Trump's tax returns, according to a court filing on Thursday.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said it would not seek to enforce the subpoena until Oct. 7, or two business days after a judge rules on Trump's challenge to the subpoena, whichever comes first.

A spokesman for Vance declined to comment on the agreement. Lawyers for Trump could not immediately be reached.

Vance had subpoenaed the returns and other records from Trump's longtime accounting firm Mazars USA on Aug. 29 as part of a criminal investigation.

Earlier this month, Trump sued Vance in Manhattan federal court to block the subpoena, arguing that a president was immune from criminal investigation while in office. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero heard arguments in the case on Wednesday but has yet to rule.

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.

The scope of Vance's investigation is not publicly known.

President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Air Force One to return to Washington from Kennedy Airport in New York, New York, U.S. September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The subpoena on Mazars came four weeks after Vance issued a separate subpoena to the Trump Organization for records of hush-money payments to two women prior to the 2016 presidential election. Adult-film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal have said they had sexual relationships with Trump, which he has denied.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Peter Cooney)

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