On Monday, attorneys representing former President Donald Trump filed an emergency application with the United States Supreme Court. The filing requests the Court temporarily block a House committee from reviewing his tax records, according to the Daily Caller.
According to CNBC, Trump’s attorneys have requested a ruling by the high Court by Wednesday. His emergency request follows a decision by a federal appeals court that ruled on the matter last week.
CNN reported that the three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the committee’s request to access Trump’s returns last Thursday. Absent the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court, Trump’s attorneys must hand over all requested records on Thursday.
The committee has requested six years of tax records and related documents pertaining to eight of his businesses. The Democrat-controlled House Ways and Means Committee has sought the records for several years.
Trump argues that the committee’s request is politically motivated and an “attack on the separation of powers by the legislative branch.”
An excerpt from the filing reads:
“If allowed to stand, it will undermine the separation of powers and render the office of the Presidency vulnerable to invasive information demands from political opponents in the legislative branch. Review is of the utmost importance, and the Court should preserve its ability to grant it—not just to one ‘particular President,’ but also for ‘the Presidency itself.'”
House Democrats claim they are seeking access to Trump’s records to determine if he violated the Constitution’s emolument clauses by inappropriately receiving payments from foreign government officials when he served as president.
NBC News reported the committee also desires to audit the lease for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., — a lease he secured in 2013.
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