Decision 2020

Appeals court panel upholds House subpoena for Trump tax records

In a legal setback for the White House, a federal appeals court panel on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that President Donald Trump's accounting firm must provide the Congress with Mr. Trump's financial records, ruling that the President cannot block a subpoena from a House committee for such financial information.

"Contrary to the President’s arguments, the Committee possesses authority under both the House Rules and the Constitution to issue the subpoena, and Mazars must comply," the panel's 2-1 majority wrote, referring to Mr. Trump's accounting firm.

"Having considered the weighty interests at stake in this case, we conclude that the subpoena issued by the Committee to Mazars is valid and enforceable, the ruling states. "We affirm the district court’s judgment in favor of the Oversight Committee and against the Trump Plaintiffs."

The President still has the option of appealing this decision - either to the full D.C. Court of Appeals, or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The House Oversight Committee issued the subpoena back in April; GOP lawmakers denounced the move at the time as 'an astonishing abuse' of Congressional authority.

But twice now, the courts have found otherwise.