Justices to take up dispute over subpoenas for Trump records

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear President Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major confrontation between the president and Congress that also could affect the 2020 presidential campaign.

Arguments will take place in late March, and the justices, acting unusually quickly, are poised to issue decisions in June as Trump is campaigning for a second term.

Rulings against the president could result in the quick release of personal financial information that Trump has sought strenuously to keep private.

The court also will decide whether the Manhattan district attorney can obtain eight years of Trump’s tax returns as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

The subpoenas are separate from the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Trump, headed for a vote in the full House next week.

Indeed, it’s almost certain the court won’t hear the cases until after a Senate trial over whether to remove Trump has ended.

The high court arguments will test the limits of presidential accountability, shining a spotlight on Trump’s arguments that he couldn’t be prosecuted or investigated during his term as president even if he were to shoot someone on New York’s 5th Avenue, as he once said during the 2016 campaign.

He also is challenging Congress’ broad authority to launch investigations.

Trump sued to prevent banks and accounting firms from complying with subpoenas for his records from three committees of the House of Representatives and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

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