Former President Donald Trump’s long-sought tax returns have been turned over to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it wouldn’t block the documents from being released to Vance’s office.
A spokesman for Vance’s office, Danny Frost, on Feb. 25 confirmed the development to several news outlets. A subpoena was enforced against Mazars USA, Trump’s accounting firm.
The Supreme Court had said in a one-sentence order, without explanation, that it wouldn’t block the subpoena.
Before Feb. 22, the Supreme Court previously refused to stop lower court rulings and sided with Vance. In July, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote an opinion for a 7–2 ruling that rejected Trump’s argument that he was immune to state-level investigations while he was in office.
“In our judicial system, ‘the public has a right to every man’s evidence.’ Since the earliest days of the Republic, ‘every man’ has included the president of the United States,” Roberts said at the time.
Trump’s attorneys continued to fight the subpoena, saying Vance’s office was acting in bad faith and overreaching.
Vance’s possession of the tax returns and other financial documents doesn’t mean the public will ever see them. The records were sought in connection to an investigation by a grand jury convened by his office.
Trump, in a statement on Feb. 22, criticized the Supreme Court’s decision and said it’s part of a “witch hunt” against him that started years ago, persisted while he was president, and continues now that he has left office.
“So now, for more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction I’ve ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S.,“ he said on Feb. 22. ”The Tea Party was treated far better by the IRS than Donald Trump.”
Trump added that it’s “something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo.”
Mazars USA has said it would comply with legal obligations.
The office of Vance, a Democrat, didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
