Trump files appeal at Supreme Court in financial records fight

[turbinetree]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday filed court papers asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling directing an accounting firm to hand over his financial records to a Democratic-led congressional panel, setting up a major clash between branches of government.

Trump turned to the justices after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided on Nov. 13 that it would not revisit its October decision backing the House of Representatives Oversight Committee’s authority to subpoena the records from Mazars LLP, Trump’s longtime accounting firm.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-trump-records/trump-files-appeal-at-supreme-court-in-financial-records-fight-idUSKBN1Y9292?il=0

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Now the country will see who the John Roberts court sides with ......................

[TruckFump]

1. My gut tells me...

...SCOTUS will not take cert.

[DeminPennswoods]

3. That's my sense, too

It might be different if the House had subpoened Trump directly, but they didn't.

[fleur-de-lisa]

5. I agree.

[Miguelito Loveless]

14. If they do,

the fix is in.

[BlueIdaho]

36. If they do...

We need term limits on the Supreme Court.

[Sneederbunk]

30. By granting cert decision can be delayed until after 2020 election.

[awesomerwb1]

2. We don't have to wait to know

Most people can tell you today, right now, that they're gonna rule in favor of Dump.

[Perseus]

31. I hope you are wrong, I refuse to write that script

I still have optimism that people who chose a life of law will push more for the truth, I exclude Barr on that one, he is too much of a crook, but the Supreme Court may see things different. John Roberts seems to be level headed once in a while, Kananaugh is already in the Supreme Court, so he doesn't owe the creature anything at this time, unless he has been threatened, Thomas is 1/2 sleep all the time and he will do whatever Roberts tells him to do, Alito can also go either way and he also seems to follow Roberts on many issues, so lets keep our faith that the justices will do the right thing, we need to stop writing negative scripts.

[Miguelito Loveless]

39. Thomas, Kavanaugh, Alito, and Gorsuch

are Kool-Aid drinkers, true believers. Roberts is the key. He has to decide if he wants to go down in history as the man who destroyed the Republic and gave power to a dictator.

[Zoonart]

4. Let's see if the Christian Right has purchased them selves a Supreme Court...

with their souls.

Or, if indeed, the Russians have purchased themselves a Democracy.

[Texin]

11. You already know the answer to that one. Maybe not Roberts, but the others?

Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are a slam dunk. If the agree to hear the case, you'll know the outcome.

[Chicago1980]

20. They don't need a majority to hear the case.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Not completely, but the Xtian Right is fervently praying ...

... for Dog to take RBG into his kingdom.

[Zoonart]

18. I know...it's despicable.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I thought Trump said he could do whatever he wants

so why is he appealing to the Supreme Court? He won't obey their ruling if they go against him. He's told Congress to shove it, why not SCOTUS too? Very inconsistent Little Donnie.

[leftieNanner]

26. If he had that option, he would take it

But he doesn't in this case. The subpoena is to Mazar's, his accounting firm, and if SCOTUS rules that they must turn over the records, you can be damned sure that they will comply. There is no other avenue for appeal if the top court turns Trump down.

Looking forward to that day!

[Scarsdale]

7. The ruling on this will

show us where the S.C. allegiance lies. Are they with tRump, or this country? tRump is hiding something, we need to know NOW before the impeachment voting.

[Indykatie]

8. My Guess is That Trump Loses This Case with the SC

[murielm99]

9. I hope you are right.

But the filing was predictable, wasn't it?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

13. What will Trump do if he loses? He will still refuse to turn over his records.

How, exactly, are the SCOTUS orders to be carried out?

Trump knows he's above the law -- the GOP Senate has his back and they have been complicit in all of his illegal schemes -- so why should he follow a SCOTUS decision, especially since "I can do anything I want."

[ScratchCat]

15. The order is not on Trump

The accounting firm has been ordered to turn over the documents. Trump has no say here. The firm WILL comply, its not even a question.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

21. Okay. I got confused because the msm always says "Trump loses..."

I'd forgotten the subpoena was on Fat Donnie's accounting firm. I'm still wondering what he'll do if the firm is told to turn over the files, given the overwhelming fear he has about the information in them coming to light.

[Maraya1969]

24. But then why don't they comply now? Why are they waiting for Trump to get through

to SCOTUS?

I hope if they rule in his favor that some patriot leaks the documents. Maybe mail them to some place in Europe and have another person copy them. I have been thinking about how one could leak documents and not get caught. Apparently they can tell which printer they came from but must be some other way.

In the meantime the whole world will see that Trump gets all his money from Russia.

[leftieNanner]

27. "He gets all his money from Russia"

And/Or he has no money at all! He brags about being a billionaire, but I think his net worth is nowhere near that.

[Maraya1969]

33. I think that is true also. I think he just blusters about how much money he has but he lost

it all, (about 450 million in today's money) and so I think Russia keeps him, so to speak.
He is a kept man!
I know they laundered a lot of money through Trump tower. Who knows what else.

[colsohlibgal]

10. How Dirty Must They Be?

He really must not want anything to see the light of day.

[RT Atlanta]

12. Agreed!

The information (fraudulent returns?) has to just be terrible for him to appeal to the Supreme Court.

[Newest Reality]

28. That's the big question.

You can almost feel it. He has resisted this so much that you can only assume that there are major bombshells in there that could be devastating.

That gives me a sense of optimism and I think it may help us on the road to closure as we rid ourselves of this infestation.

[cstanleytech]

17. So he wants the Court to block Congress from doing its job as defined under the Constitution?

If SCOTUS agrees to do that then the time to increase the court to 13 when we regain the majority in the House and Senate with a Democrat in office will be upon us for sure.

[lark]

22. He wants SCOTUS to rule that the constitution has no meaning and that he is above the law -

a dictator for the rw oligarchs - which are well represented in the majority Russian Repug Rapist SCOTUS. The only question is whether Roberts will vote for the constitution or the rich. He has never shown rulings against the rich, even with ACA gave rw partial victories and that wasn't 1/2 as consequential as this. I am assuming that everything Roberts has DONE (not said or written in self-serving OP's) has shown him to be a complete tool of the oligarchs & fascists.

[Texin]

19. Now we know the REAL reason DJT exited NATO summit early.

Not to minimize how butt hurt his widdle feelings were about being mocked, but we now know he came rushing back here to muster his legal team to get this appeal to the supremes stat.

[onenote]

23. Not really.

The Court set today as the deadline for the petition for cert to be filed back on November 25. Trump didn't need to come back from Europe to make sure it got filed "stat."

[Bayard]

25. Why in the world?

Can't his cult see he is hiding something spectacularly illegal? Or, at the least, embarrassing?

No matter how partisan a judge is, I don't see them wiping their feet on the Constitution.

[Quackers]

35. Honestly, a lot of his supporters know what he's doing is illegal.

They choose to overlook it because he is furthering their stances and opinions.

[Brainfodder]

29. Innocent people definitely hide their records just like this, ALL THE TIME!

DUH!

[C Moon]

32. It is now abundantly clear that those tax forms will be a stake through the heart for that vampire

[SergeStorms]

34. Now we'll finally see...

if republicans bought and stole the Supreme Court for their treacherous fascist takeover of the Judicial system. These bastards are supposed to be "strict constitutionalists" but I have a feeling they'll turn out to be party first toadies who owe their lifetime jobs to republican skullduggery.

[lettucebe]

37. All the lower courts agreed so there is nothing for the supremes to decide -- it's decided

There is seriously no question in this case for them to consider. Only if justices had disagreed along the way, then they'd have something to "settle." I seriously doubt they'll take it, and if they do, we need to ask why?

[melm00se]

38. As long as the request meets

the so-called "Kilbourn test" and under McGrain v. Daugherty, Congress has the ability to compel testimony.

The Kilbourn Test requires that the request meets the following criteria

1) Inquiries must not "invade areas constitutionally reserved to the courts or the executive"
2) Inquiries must deal "with subjects on which Congress could validly legislate"
3) The resolution authorizing the investigation must specify "a congressional interest in legislating on that subject."
4) Where the inquiry can result in "no valid legislation," then the "Private affairs of individuals" are not valid targets for inquiry.

As this involves an impeachment inquiry which would check the "Yes" box in all 4 criteria, then under McGrain v. Daugherty, Congress has the constitutional authority to subpoena these records.