President Donald Trump’s financial records can be examined by New York prosecutors, the Supreme Court has ruled on July 9.
In a related case, the court ruled that this information did not have to be shared with Congress.
Donald Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon in the 1970s not to have made his tax returns public.
The president’s lawyers had argued that he enjoyed total immunity while in office and that Congress had no valid justification to seek the records.
Two Democrat-controlled House of Representatives committees and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance – also a Democrat – had demanded several years’ worth of President Trump’s taxes in order to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were tough enough.
President Trump, a Republican, denies wrongdoing and has called the investigation into his tax affairs a “witch hunt”.
He wrote in a series of tweets following the court rulings: “The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue. This is all a political prosecution.”
In the case regarding the request from the New York prosecutors, the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of seven to two that President Trump did not have absolute immunity from criminal investigation.
“Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” the court said.
“We reaffirm that principle today.”
However, the two cases regarding Congressional committees were closely watched, as they could have had implications on how far US lawmakers could scrutinize the activities of a sitting president.
The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had significant, but not limitless, power to request the president’s personal information. In this case, the court returned the case to the lower courts.
Two of the cases centered on the ability of the House intelligence, oversight and financial services committees to compel Deutsche Bank and Mazars USA, President Trump’s long-time accounting firm, to turn over his tax and financial documents. The committees argued that they needed this information to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were sufficiently rigorous.
The case of Trump v Vance was based on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s criminal subpoena – an order to hand over evidence.
Cyrus Vance argued Donald Trump’s documents were needed to determine if financial records had been doctored to cover up hush-money payments to two women in 2016 who say they had affairs with President Trump.
Following the ruling Cyrus Vance said the investigation into President Trump’s financial affairs would resume.
It is not clear whether this will happen. Even if President Trump’s financial records are turned over to prosecutors, they may remain hidden from public view until charges are filed.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham wants to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s business dealings for any potential links to Russia.
The Republican senator raised the issue a day after former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before a Senate panel.
Lindsey Graham said it would be “helpful” to see Donald Trump’s tax returns.
“I want to know more about Trump’s business dealings,” he told CNN on May 9.
Photo Wikipedia
However, he added it was too soon to determine whether he would be willing to subpoena them from the White House.
During May 8 testimony, James Clapper was asked whether he had any concerns about President Trump’s business interests and a possible connection to Russia.
“Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence communities assessment,” said James Clapper, who served under former President Barack Obama.
However, when Lindsey Graham pressed the former spy chief on whether he had ever discovered any Trump business ties to Moscow, James Clapper alluded to an ongoing FBI investigation.
“Senator Graham I can’t comment on that because that impacts an investigation,” he said.
President Trump took to Twitter to cast doubt on any questions surrounding James Clapper’s refusal to comment on May 8.
He wrote: “Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is <<no evidence>> of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.”
President Trump later added: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?”
Correspondents say that, despite the lack of detail in the 2005 documents, the leak is still significant because so little is known about Donald Trump’s tax affairs and the new information could increase pressure on him to release more.
The two pages show that President Trump paid $5.3 million in federal income tax and an extra $31 million in what is called alternative minimum tax (AMT).
Image source Flickr
AMT was set up nearly 50 years ago to stop the wealthiest people from using deductions and loopholes to avoid paying taxes. Donald Trump has called for it to be abolished.
The $38 million bill was an effective tax rate of about 24%, higher than the average American citizen would pay but below the 27.4% averaged by higher-earning taxpayers.
Although leaking federal tax returns is a criminal offence, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow argued that the network was exercising its right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the US Constitution to publish information in the public interest.
Journalist David Cay Johnston, interviewed on MSNBC, said he had received the documents in the post from an anonymous source.
In a statement issued before the broadcast, the White House said: “You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago.”
The statement said President Trump had a responsibility to pay no more tax than was legally required.
Every presidential candidate since 1976 has released their tax returns although there is no legal requirement to do so.
During last year’s election campaign, Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump in a head-to-head debate of paying no federal income tax.
In October 2016, the New York Times revealed parts of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax returns that showed losses of $916 million. The newspaper said this could have affected his returns for up to 18 subsequent years, allowing him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes.
The forms disclosed on March 14 do not say whether the $103 million write-down was connected to the 1995 losses.
Donald Trump’s allies have said he is a “genius” if a New York Times report is true that he paid no federal income taxes for 18 years.
The New York Times said it had received some of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax documents revealing $915m losses that allowed him to legally avoid paying taxes.
Donald Trump’s camp refused to confirm or deny the report, but said the filing was “illegally obtained”.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s campaign called the report a “bombshell”.
Donald Trump’s surrogates took to the airwaves on October 2 to defend him.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the New York Times article was a “very good story” because it showcased the “genius” of Donald Trump.
Image source Wikipedia
Chris Christie told Fox News Sunday the report would only underline that Donald Trump is best qualified to ease tax policy on working people.
Former New York Rudy Giuliani, a close adviser to Donald Trump, also said the Republican candidate was an “absolute genius” if he avoided federal income taxes.
“A lot of the people that are poor take advantage of loopholes and pay no taxes,” Rudy Giuliani told NBC’s Meet the Press on October 2.
“Those are loopholes also.”
Donald Trump himself played down the report tweeting: “I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes.”
During the first presidential debate on September 26, Hillary Clinton attacked Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns, as all previous White House candidates have done since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Hillary Clinton suggested he was hiding “something terrible” and that he had perhaps not paid any federal income tax. Donald Trump replied: “That makes me smart.”
In its article, the New York Times said three pages of documents were anonymously sent last month to one of its reporters who had written about Donald Trump’s finances.
A former accountant for Donald Trump, Jack Mitnick, whose name appears as Trump’s tax preparer of the filings, said the documents appeared to be authentic copies of portions of the 1995 returns, according to the New York Times.
Donald Trump’s campaign did not directly address the authenticity of the excerpts, but the New York Times said a Trump lawyer had emailed the newspaper arguing that publication of the records was illegal.
His camp accused the publication, which has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, of being “an extension of the Clinton campaign”.
Donald Trump, the campaign added, was a “highly skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.
“That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions.”
Hillary Clinton’s camp said Donald Trump embodied the “rigged system” of an unfair US tax code.
Her campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement: “This bombshell report reveals the colossal nature of Donald Trump’s past business failures and just how long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever.”
Hillary Clinton has already disclosed nearly 40 years of federal income tax returns, while Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, has made publicly available 10 years of his tax returns.
At an October 1rally, Donald Trump appeared to accuse Hillary Clinton of marital infidelity.
“Hillary Clinton’s only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself,” the Republican told thousands gathered in Manheim, Pennsylvania.
“I don’t think she’s even loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth. Why should she be, right?”
Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin has debuted his impression of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, parodying the candidate’s pronunciation of China, among other things.
Sporting a blonde wig and a lip-puckering scowl, Alec Baldwin appeared on the comedy show alongside SNL regular Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, using a walking cane.
The New York Times says it has obtained documents showing Donald Trump declared a loss of 916 million on his 1995 federal income tax return.
According to the publication, the loss was so large it may have enabled Donald Trump to avoid paying tax for up to 18 years legally.
The Republican candidate’s campaign has refused to publish his tax returns and neither confirmed nor denied the scale of his losses.
Hillary Clinton has made much of his tax record.
Image source Wikimedia
During an acrimonious first presidential debate on September 26, Hillary Clinton forced Donald Trump on to the defensive for not releasing his tax returns, suggesting that he was hiding “something terrible”.
When the Democratic candidate accused Donald Trump of not paying federal income tax, he replied: “That makes me smart.”
Hillary Clinton has publicly released nearly 40 years’ worth while Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, has released 10 years of his tax returns.
In its story, the New York Times says the three pages of documents were sent last month to one of its reporters who had written about Donald Trump’s finances.
A former accountant for Donald Trump, Jack Mitnick, whose name appears as Trump’s tax preparer of the filings, said the documents appeared to be authentic copies of portions of the 1995 returns, according to the newspaper.
On October 1, the Trump campaign accused the New York Times of being “an extension of the Clinton campaign”.
Donald Trump, the campaign added, was a “highly skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.
“That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions.”
Since 1976, every major party presidential nominee has released tax returns.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has released her 2015 federal income tax return, adding to the pressure on rival Donald Trump to do the same.
Hillary Clinton paid an effective federal tax rate of 34.2% in 2015.
Running mate Tim Kaine, along with his wife Anne Holton, paid a rate of 20.3%, his returns show.
Billionaire Donald Trump has refused to release his.
Presidential candidates typically release their tax returns to the media to show their effective tax rate, charitable donations and other financial details.
Donald Trump, who has released a self-reported financial disclosure form, said he will not make his income tax return public until the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) completes audits of them.
Hillary and Bill Clinton were to headline Senator Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry fundraiser in rural Indianola
The IRS has said Donald Trump is free to release his returns. Donald Trump would be the first presidential candidate in decades not to release his returns.
Richard Nixon released his federal income tax return in 1973, starting an informal precedent.
In 2012, then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reluctantly released his returns.
The returns became a campaign issue after the documents showed Mitt Romeny paid an effective tax rate of 14.1%, much lower than the typical rate for top earners.
“Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine continue to set the standard for financial transparency,” said a Clinton campaign spokeswoman, who called on Donald Trump to do the same.
Hillary and Bill Clinton made most of their money in 2015 from business income, namely consulting, speaking and book royalties, for a total of $10.1 million between the couple.
Bill Clinton spent $500,000 in travel as part of the speaking portion of his business, while the former secretary of state had about $250,000 in travel expenses for her speaking business.
Half of their deductions are charitable giving – including a $1 million donation to the Clinton Foundation
Hillary Clinton’s return was filed jointly with her husband former President Bill Clinton. The couple earned more than $10 million in 2015, the documents say.
Most of the income came from Bill Clinton’s speaking fees as Hillary Clinton has been campaigning for president.
Hillary Clinton earned about $3 million from book royalties.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have disclosed tax returns for every year since 1977.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
