US Supreme Court allows Manhattan prosecutors to obtain Trump's financial records

The US Supreme Court on Thursday (local time) granted Manhattan prosecutors access to obtain President Donald Trump's financial records and tax returns.

The court ruled that Trump could not escape from being subpoenaed for his financial records from Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance since the President is not immune from criminal investigations. It is not a must for prosecutors to show a greater need than normal to obtain the records, Xinhua reported.

"The President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion in the case.

Trump railed against the decisions on Thursday morning, tweeting that New York was "politically corrupt" and that the decision was "not fair" to his presidency or administration.

"Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!" Trump said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the court during the same proceeding, blocked Democrat-led House subpoenas on Trump's taxes, sending both decisions back to lower courts and keeping the records under wraps for the foreseeable future, according to US media reports.

Many Democrats felt disappointed since the decision probably means the President's financial records, including his tax returns, will be shielded from public scrutiny until after the November general elections.

Following the ruling, Vance said that his investigation, which was delayed for almost a year by the lawsuit, will now resume.

"This is a tremendous victory for our nation's system of justice and its founding principle that no one -- not even a president -- is above the law," Vance said.

On the 2016 presidential campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to release his tax returns after audit. Shortly after Trump took office in January 2017, Kellyanne Conway, senior counsellor to Trump, told US media that Trump would not release his tax returns, claiming American voters were indifferent to the issue. 

-ANI

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