President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs for travel to Minnesota from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S. October 10, 2019.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
A federal appeals court in a split ruling Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to block a House committee subpoena for his income tax returns.
The subpoena was issued earlier this year to Trump’s accountants at Mazars USA by the Democrat-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform for his tax returns.
A federal judge in Manhattan had denied Trump’s effort to block the subpoena.
Trump then appealed that ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
That appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the lower court’s ruling on Friday.
The dissent came from Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Trump to that Manhattan-based appellate court.
Trump could seek to challenge that decision by asking the full set of judges in the 2nd Circuit to re-hear the case.
Or he could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take his appeal.
Trump currently is asking the 2nd Circuit to block another subpoena for his corporate and personal income tax returns that was issued by a state grand jury in New York City.
That other subpoena was sought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. is probing how the Trump Organization accounted for hush money payments paid before the 2016 presidential election to two women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, in exchange for their keeping quiet about their alleged affairs withTrump years earlier.
Trump has denied having sex with either woman.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
