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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Trump departs the White House in WashingtonBy Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump, fighting to keep details of his finances secret, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to prevent records held by Deutsche Bank AG (DE:) and Capital One Financial Corp (N:) from being handed over to Democratic-led congressional panels.
Trump’s lawyers asked the high court to put a hold a Dec. 3 ruling by the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directing the two banks to comply with April subpoenas by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and Intelligence Committee for the financial records.
If the justices grant that request, it would give Trump’s lawyers time to file a formal appeal of the lower court ruling.
“The subpoenas targeting the president, his family and his business dealings do not fall within the committees’ constitutional or statutory authority,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
They added that the president should not be prevented from contesting an “unprecedented demand for his personal papers” simply because the request was made to a third party.
The material sought by the committees include records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities.
Trump filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a separate case seeking to prevent the House Oversight Committee from obtaining financial records from Mazars LLP, Trump’s longtime accounting firm. An appeals court in Washington ruled against Trump in October.
The Supreme Court on Nov. 25 granted Trump’s request to put the subpoena enforcement in that case on hold while the president appeals the matter. Both cases represent an important showdown over the powers of the presidency versus those of Congress.
The lower court rulings, if left intact, would bring House Democrats closer to getting some of the details about Trump’s business interests even as they pursue an impeachment inquiry focusing on his dealings with Ukraine.
Trump, running for re-election in 2020, has fought to keep his financial and tax records private. He broke with tradition by not releasing his tax returns as a candidate in 2016 and as president.
Trump sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an effort to prevent the disclosure of his financial records. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled in May that the subpoenas could be enforced, prompting Trump’s to appeal to the 2nd Circuit.
Trump in November also asked the Supreme Court to reverse a separate appeals court ruling that directed Mazars to hand over his personal and corporate tax returns from 2011 to 2018 to local prosecutors in New York City. The justices are due to discuss on Dec. 13 whether to hear Trump’s appeal in that case.
In that case, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, is seeking the returns as part of a criminal investigation into Trump and the Trump Organization, the president’s family real estate business.
The court has a 5-4 conservative majority that includes two Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
All three cases could be put on a fast track, meaning that if the court decides to hear them, a ruling would be possible before the end of June, when its current term ends.
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