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Trump to Appeal Ruling on Vance Subpoena to Supreme Court

U.S. District Judge had ordered both sides to let him know by Friday whether further proceedings in his court would be necessary.

Trump to Appeal Ruling on Vance Subpoena to Supreme Court
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 2019 White House Business Session in Washington, D.C., U.S. (Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s lawyers told a judge they’ll ask the U.S. Supreme Court next week to block a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney seeking his tax filings and other financial records.

Lawyers representing Trump and District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a joint letter Friday that Trump will ask for high court review by Thursday and both sides will file legal arguments by Nov. 25, setting up a possibility of finding out quickly whether the Supreme Court will hear the case.

If the court declines, that could clear the way for Trump’s accountants, Mazars USA LLP, to begin turning documents over to Vance’s office as early as next month.

The move comes at the end of a week that saw the federal appeals court in New York reject Trump’s argument that he has broad immunity from criminal investigation. The panel ruled 3-0 that Trump can’t block the grand jury subpoena.

Vance is investigating whether the Trump Organization falsified business records to disguise hush-money payments to two women who claimed they had sex with Trump. Trump sued in September as an individual -- not as president -- in hopes of blocking Mazars from turning over eight years of his tax filings and other evidence.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the Constitution gives the president “absolute immunity” from state judicial process while he’s in office, including from the New York grand jury’s demand for evidence.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who’s overseeing the case, had ordered both sides to let him know by Friday whether further proceedings in his court would be necessary, following Monday’s appeals court ruling.

The case is Trump v. Vance, 19-03204, Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

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