Today, Monday, the US Supreme Court paved the way for a New York City prosecutor to obtain former President Donald Trump's tax returns and other financial records as part of a criminal investigation, dealing a blow to Trump's efforts to conceal details of his finances.
By unanimous decision and without any comment, the Supreme Court responded to an appeal filed by Trump's attorneys and requested the annulment of a federal court order that had ordered the Mazar Accounting Office to hand over the tax returns and bank accounts of the former president over a period of eight years to Manhattan attorney Cyrus Vance, who is claiming them. months ago.
In July 2020, the Supreme Court and most of its judges were conservative, ordering Trump to hand over these documents to the plaintiff, but Trump's attorney challenged the period covered by the required documents.
"The work continues," Vance responded in a statement issued after the court action.
The closed sessions of the investigation led by Vance take place before a jury, and no one knows when the investigation will be concluded or whether judicial prosecutions will be launched pursuant to it, which, if it happens, will set a precedent, as no previous president has been prosecuted before the courts.
The investigation initially focused on sums of money paid in 2016 before the presidential election to two presumed mistresses of the Republican billionaire, and now includes issues related to tax fraud, insurance fraud, or bank fraud.
And US media reported that investigators recently questioned employees of Deutsche Bank, who has long been the financial supporter of Trump and his group, "The Trump Organization" and his insurance company, Aon.
They also re-questioned former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, and who is serving his sentence, under house arrest.
He had told Congress that Trump and his company were artificially inflating or undervaluing their assets to obtain bank loans or tax cuts.
'Worst hunt campaign'
If these suspicions are correct and charges are brought against Trump, they could expose him to prison.
Unlike federal misdemeanors, violations of state laws cannot be subject to a pardon by a US president.
New York State Democrat Attorney Leticia James is also investigating these allegations of bank fraud and insurance fraud as part of a civil complaint.
Trump did not immediately comment on the Supreme Court ruling, but has previously described the investigation as "the worst stalking campaign in US history."
By not publishing his tax declarations, Trump violated a tradition since the era of former President Jimmy Carter, and after he left the White House, he decided to move from New York to stay in his Marilago resort in Florida.
Although Trump promised to publish his tax returns repeatedly, he argued that the financial audit conducted by the tax administration should end.
His lawyers have spared no effort before the courts to delay the publication date.
11 years of tax evasion
In September 2020, the New York Times published an extensive investigation after it saw two-decade tax returns stating that the Republican billionaire companies incurred large financial losses that led to the accumulation of their debts.
According to the newspaper, the tax declarations covering an 18-year period show that Trump avoided, through the reported losses, paying federal taxes over 11 years, and paid only $ 750 in 2016 and 2017.
In addition to Vance's investigation, the 74-year-old former president, who was acquitted by the Senate of incitement to storming Congress on January 6, is facing a host of lawsuits, most of them before civilian courts.
In early February, a Georgia state attorney announced the opening of a preliminary investigation against Trump on suspicion of "attempting to interfere" in the counting processes in Georgia, the landmark state in which he exerted great pressure on those in charge of entitlement to contest his loss in the presidential elections.