Trump lawyers set to battle House over financial records
By JOSH GERSTEIN 07/12/2019 08:52 AM EDT
Lawyers for President Donald Trump were set to plead with a federal appeals court panel Friday not to allow Congress access to a trove of accounting records that could yield information about Trumps income and financial condition for nearly a decade.
Trumps attorneys are fighting a subpoena the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued in April to a New York-based accounting firm, Mazars, seeking details on the firms work for Trump and his businesses from 2011 through 2018.
Lawyers for Trump and for the Democrat-controlled House were due to square off Friday morning before a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Officials moved the session to the courthouses large, top-floor ceremonial courtroom due to the anticipated crowds.
In May, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected Trumps challenge to the accounting firm subpoena. He said it wasnt the courts role to second-guess the committees claim that it needs the information to assess possible conflicts of interest and consider whether legislative changes are needed to address them.
It is not the courts role to decipher whether Congresss true purpose in pursuing an investigation is to aid legislation or something more sinister such as exacting political retribution, wrote Mehta.
more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/donald-trump-house-financial-records-1411975