Donald Trump's bid to keep tax records from House of Representatives fails as court rejects his appeal

Donald Trump lost his latest appeal against a subpoena
AP
Jacob Jarvis11 October 2019

Donald Trump's latest bid to keep financial records from the House of Representatives has failed after an appeal was rejected in court.

The US President's records from Mazars LLP were subject to a subpoena by the House Oversight Committee, which his lawyers argued was flawed.

His representatives said a May 20 decision by US District Judge Amit Mehta ordering Mazars comply should be reversed.

However, the Court of Appeals argued, in a 2-1 decision, that the request was valid.

Mr Trump had sued the House panel in April and argued that its subpoena exceeded constitutional limits on the power of Congress to investigate.

His lawyers can still seek further moves to review the decision.

A US District judge said in a May decision that Mazars documents might assist Congress in passing laws and performing other core functions.

It was the first time a federal court waded into the dispute over how far Congress can go in probing Mr Trump and his business affairs.

Mr Trump is separately trying to prevent New York state prosecutors from enforcing a subpoena against Mazars for eight years of his tax returns. The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is seeking the returns as part of a criminal investigation.

He has argued to in that case that he is immune from being investigated as a sitting president. The court is expected to hear arguments in the case on October 23.

The US President is also fighting subpoenas by House committees seeking his financial records from Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp, though those records do not include his tax returns. That case is also before an appeals court in New York that has yet to rule.

Additional reporting by agencies.

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