The supreme court just struck a huge blow to
Trump's belief that he's above the law
Lloyd Green
The court ruled that the president cannot conceal his
finances from the American people. It’s another blow to his shaky re-election
bid
‘The decisions came on the final day of the court’s
2019-20 term, but they could not have arrived at a worse moment for Trump.’
Published
onThu 9 Jul 2020 17.24 BST
Donald
Trump’s future may rest with the nation’s voters and a New York grand jury,
although not necessarily in that order. On Thursday, the US supreme court
upheld a subpoena issued by Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance, which
demands eight years of Trump’s tax returns. Once again, Trump’s secrets are no
longer his own.
Voting 7-2,
the high court rejected the president’s contention that he was immune from
investigation simply because he lives in the White House. Writing for the
court’s majority, Chief Justice John Roberts argued: “We cannot conclude that
absolute immunity is necessary or appropriate under article II or the supremacy
clause.”
Trump
learned the hard way that the US constitution is neither invisibility cloak nor
rag. It is also not whatever the president says it is.
As Roberts
framed things, “No citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the
common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.”
Significantly, under the court’s ruling, the lower court will continue to
exercise oversight of the proceedings.
In a
separate ruling, issued minutes later and by a 7-2 margin, the court rejected
the president’s contention that Congress had no right whatsoever to review his
tax returns and financials. Roberts observed: “When Congress seeks information
‘needed for intelligent legislative action’, it ‘unquestionably’ remains ‘the
duty of all citizens to cooperate’.”
The House
of Representatives had cast a particular eye on Trump’s relationship with
Deutsche Bank, his de facto lender of choice and last resort. On the other
hand, the court denied Congress instant access to the records.
The
majority held that the lower courts had paid insufficient attention to the issue
of separation of powers and the potential for encroachment upon the executive
branch. In other words, this battle will continue beyond Trump’s tenure unless
a Biden administration weighs in. And even then.
The
decisions came on the final day of the court’s 2019-20 term, but they could not
have arrived at a worse moment for Trump. There are less than four months to
the election and once again the president is ensnared in a snare of his own
making. A porn star, a Playboy model and alleged hush money are again on stage.
Even before
the supreme court announced its rulings, Trump had used Twitter to complain of
harassment. After the court went on summer vacation, the president kvetched
about its lack of deference. Practically speaking, it is unlikely that Trump’s
returns will be shared with the public any time soon.
Even the tech baron Peter Thiel likens Trump's
re-election effort to a marooned boat skippered by a hapless crew
Separately,
Trump’s annual financial disclosure form is on a 45-day extension. It is the
sole legally mandated window into the president’s holdings and income.
As for New
York’s prosecutors, the operative issues appear to be whether the Trump
Organization deducted the payments from reported income, the legality of such a
move under state law, and who in Trump’s orbit greenlighted the deduction if
taken. Lurking in the foreground is the implicit question: what did Trump know
and when did he know it?
The record
currently reflects that Michael Cohen, then an officer of the Trump
Organization and Trump’s personal lawyer, orchestrated payments to the former
adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal at the behest
of his client, Trump. Cohen pleaded guilty to related federal crimes in 2018.
At the time, the justice department essentially tagged the chief executive as
an unindicted co-conspirator. Government filings expressly tie Trump, AKA
“Individual-1”, to Cohen. (As a coda, within hours of the court’s rulings,
Cohen was taken back into federal custody for violating the terms of his
Covid-19 release from prison.)
From here
onward, Kayleigh McEnany, the president’s spokeswoman, will be forced to refer
questions about Trump’s taxes to his personal lawyers for answers that will
never come. McEnany wants us to believe that her boss is “the most informed
person on planet Earth when it comes to the threats that we face”.
Then there
is political reality. Despite Trump’s assurances, the US is not “in great
shape”. Trump-Pence 2020 looks a lot like the Grim Reaper’s scythe. Support for
Trump is withering where Covid-19’s march goes uninterrupted. The president’s
base is not blind.
Even the
tech baron Peter Thiel, who donated more than $1m to Trump’s 2016 run, likens
his re-election effort to a marooned boat skippered by a hapless crew. Loyalty
can survive only so much abuse and incompetence.
Vance, the
Manhattan district attorney, and the Trumps have some history. Less than a
decade ago, Vance declined to indict Ivanka and Donald Jr over their role in
the Trump Soho project, an undersold condominium-hotel in lower Manhattan. The
optics were messy, to say the least. Vance received a $25,000 contribution –
which he returned – from Marc Kasowitz, another Trump lawyer.
This time
around, however, the Trumps may not be so lucky. Four decades ago, Vance’s
father served as Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state. But in 1980, the elder
Vance resigned over a botched effort to rescue 52 Americans held hostage by
Iran. Vance père had opposed the operation from its outset and quit over
principle. Ultimately, his nexus to the president did not mean all that much.
Against
that backdrop, don’t bet on Vance fils being played by Trump a second time. The
current president is a wounded politician facing electoral elimination – just
like President Carter. There’s no upside to Vance balking at an indictment if
he has the goods. The Vances know what roadkill looks like.
An attorney
in New York, Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s
1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário