Courts

Trump Loses Ridiculous Tax Immunity Argument, And Second Circuit Will Probably Agree Shortly

Trump did not 'win' -- Dear God, learn to read an opinion.

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(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump and his organization have been making ridiculous legal arguments to try to prevent Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, from complying with a New York subpoena of Trump’s financial records. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is investigating Trump’s hush-money payments to lovers Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, and Vance and the grand jury want to see if any New York laws were violated during Trump’s attempts to skirt campaign finance laws. Trump has been arguing that the president cannot be investigated while president, and that is just not a credible legal claim.

In a 75-page opinion today, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero absolutely slammed Trump’s nonsensical and monarchical argument. From the New York Times:

In his 75-page ruling, Judge Marrero called the president’s argument “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.”

Predictably, the news media has responded to this vicious and thorough defeat of the Trump administration’s arguments with headlines like:

Trump Wins Reprieve to Block N.Y. Demand for His Financial Records
And
President Trump wins delay in New York court fight to keep tax returns secret
Or
Manhattan DA temporarily barred from enforcing subpoena for Trump’s tax returns

What, the hell, is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

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Donald Trump did not “win” today. THERE WAS NO WINNING FOR DONALD TRUMP. The district court issued a 75-page opinion that all but called his legal argument a dangerous threat to DEMOCRACY. That’s not a freaking win. Trump lost. He lost hard.

What did happen is that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay of the ruling until they can hear arguments on the matter. This is proper. It makes sense to stay the ruling until an appellate court can review, since this is an evidentiary issue. After Mazars forks over Trump’s documents, there will be no other chance for Trump to appeal, so delaying the ruling until a higher court weighs in is just what’s supposed to happen in a nation of laws.

Trump has tried to pack the courts, including the Second Circuit, with hardcore conservatives and Trump people. So there’s always a chance the Second Circuit will go his way. But… it’s not LIKELY. No, most LIKELY Trump will lose at the Second Circuit just as hard as he lost at the district level. That’s because his legal argument is, as always, barely coherent legal nonsense.

I mean, did you all even READ Judge Marrero’s opinion?

This Court cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process as being countenanced by the nation’ s constitutional plan, especially in the light of the fundamental concerns over excessive arrogation of power that animated the Constitution’s delicate structure and its calibrated balance authority among the three branches of the national government , as well as between the federal and state authorities . Hence , the expansive notion of constitutional immunity invoked here to shield the President from judicial process would constitute an overreach of executive power .

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That’s on page four! THAT’S NOT WHAT WINNING SOUNDS LIKE!

The Second Circuit will probably affirm the Judge Marrero here. And quickly.

AND THEN we’ll play our game. After an adverse ruling at the Second Circuit, Trump’s lawyers will probably appeal to the Supreme Court. At that point, the Supreme Court will either: grant another stay until it gets to hear the case, OR not grant a stay which will in essence force Mazars to hand over the documents.

I don’t know what the Supreme Court will do, because the Supreme Court doesn’t seem particularly inclined to follow the law where Trump is concerned. Maybe they grant a stay and hope Trump loses re-election so they can rule the issue is moot? That seems like the most cynically political thing for them to do. But, you never know, maybe they don’t grant a stay because, again, TRUMP’S ARGUMENTS ARE FREAKING CRAZY PANTS.

We don’t know what will happen, but we know what happened today. TRUMP LOST. His arguments was ANNIHILATED by the lower court. Govern yourselves accordingly, media. Jesus.

Trump Taxes: President Ordered to Turn Over Returns to Manhattan D.A. [New York Times]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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