The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that former President Donald Trump must disclose his tax returns and other financial data to prosecutors in New York. They are conducting criminal investigations into his finances.
Trump’s lawyers had asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling. It decided last October that Trump’s accountant, the Mazars USA agency, had to hand over the financial data to an investigative jury set up by Cyrus Vance, chief prosecutor in the New York borough of Manhattan. The Chief Justices rejected Trump’s request without further comment.
As the only president in recent history, Trump has always refused to release his tax returns. This will provide prosecutors with insight into the build-up of his wealth and the activities of his family’s real estate group, the Trump Organization.
“The work continues,” prosecutor Vance said in a statement following the Supreme Court decision. Trump’s lawyers have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The verdict of the chief justices ends a drawn-out legal battle between Trump and the New York prosecutors. In July last year, the chief justices handed out a defeat to Trump: his statement that he could not be the subject of criminal investigation as the then sitting president was rejected.
Research started small and has expanded
Prosecutors in Manhatten started two years ago with an investigation into hush money payments allegedly made by Trump in 2016 to a porn actress and a Playboy model who say they have shared bed with him.
In court papers filed recently, Chief Prosecutor Vance hinted that the investigation into Trump has since broadened to include potential banking, tax and insurance fraud and the falsification of corporate records.
Trump became president on January 20 this year, after losing the election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden last year. He is involved in a myriad of legal issues surrounding his personal and business dealings.
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