This archive report was first published on 22 August 2020.
On Friday, August 21, 2020, US District Judge Victor Marrero issued a decision denying President Donald Trump's request to delay handing over his tax returns to Manhattan's district attorney, Cyrus Vance, for a criminal investigation into Trump's family real estate business.
The decision comes a day after Marrero rejected Trump's arguments that the grand jury subpoena from Vance to obtain his tax returns from the accounting firm Mazars USA was 'wildly overbroad.'
Trump's lawyers argued that the subpoena was too broad and would cause irreparable harm to the president. However, Marrero found that Trump had failed to show that his appeal would likely succeed or that he would be irreparably harmed absent a stay.
According to Marrero, 'because a grand jury is under a legal obligation to keep the confidentiality of its records, the court finds that no irreparable harm will ensue from the disclosure to it of the President's records sought here.'
Although Vance will not obtain Trump's tax returns immediately, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has scheduled oral arguments for September 1 on Trump's request for a stay.
The legal battle and grand jury secrecy rules make it unlikely that the tax returns will become public before the November 3 election in which Trump is seeking a second term.
Unlike other recent presidents, Trump has refused to release his tax returns.
