https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/21/politics/trump-motion-tax-records/index.htmlOn Friday, the District Court judge ruled that the subpoena should go ahead, but that it would be put off a week to give Trump time to appeal.
Trump's attorneys
immediately requested a further delay until the appeals court ruled on it.
The judge denied that request, stating that he did not think the Appeals Court was likely to do anything different and he saw no irreparable harm in the records going to the grand jury.
Trump's team then filed with the Appeals Court, asking for an emergency stay to delay implementation of the subpoena, until a week after an Appeals Court ruling.
Today, the Appeals Court ruled against an emergency stay, scheduling a hearing to discuss the issue on September 1st, despite the president's lawyers claiming that this would bring about "quintessential irreparable harm."
The timing of the Appeals Court hearing is such that the subpoena might be enacted and the records handed over prior to that hearing date. This does not make the Trump folks happy. We're expecting a request for an emergency stay of that order to be presented to the Supreme Court.
The subpoena asked for records from Mazars related to Trump, the Trump Organization, his foundation and several related subsidiaries. The requested documents, court records said, pertain not just to business in New York, but also in other states like Florida and California and countries including Turkey, Dubai, Canada and Indonesia.
I can certainly see how this might result in "irreparable harm," when you consider that there seems to be a good chance that it is going to expose criminally fraudulent conduct by Mr. Trump and his various businesses.
That, of course, is not what they mean... except that it turns out that their writing says it is - yes, the relevance of the appeal would be lost if the subpoena is enacted and the records are handed over. But, as Trump's lawyers explain, the material will no longer be confidential - it will be seen, even if just by the grand jury.
And there is somethingin those records that Trump does not want the courts or the District Attorney to see.