The President

Appeals Court Won't Step In on President Trump's Tax Returns For Now

The fight over the president's tax returns is expected to reach the Supreme Court for a second time.

Appeals Court Won't Step In on President Trump's Tax Returns For Now
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
SMS

A federal appeals court has rejected President Trump's attempt to delay a subpoena seeking his tax records. 

The president requested a hold on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s subpoena while he pursued appeals to get it invalidated. But the appeals court said it wouldn't hold a hearing on on the president's legal motions until September.

The president is being investigated over alleged hush-money payments made to two women who claimed to have had affairs with the president years before he was elected. He calls the case “the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country.”

But in court papers, New York prosecutors said their probe extends beyond hush money to allegations of "extensive and protracted criminal conduct" involving the Trump Organization real estate enterprise.

This comes a month after the Supreme Court rejected the President's claim of absolute immunity from state criminal subpoenas.  And it's just days after a district judge dismissed the president's second attempt to block access to his tax returns.

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 last month that President Trump isn't exempt from being subpoenaed in the New York investigation. Even if the records are obtained, it's unlikely they would be made public before the November election.

The case is expected to go back to the Supreme Court once again. 

President Trump is the only modern president who has refused to release his tax records, even after promising to do so before his election.