Supreme Court Declines House Move To Fast-Track Trump Finance Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday against a request by the House of Representatives to fast-track their case attempting to acquire President Trump’s financial records. The bid from Democrat-controlled House had hoped to speed up the process by which attorneys could subpoena Trump’s longtime accounting firms for the records again in lower courts.

The decision was confirmed in an unsigned order from the Court. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that she would have approved the request.

On July 9, the Supreme Court ruled that subpoenas submitted to lower courts in Washington and New York did not meet Constitutional standards for the separation of powers. New subpoenas can be issued to meet this standard but must wait 25 days from the ruling date to do so, the standard length of time it takes for Supreme Court rulings to take effect. This recent bid had attempted to do away with this waiting period so the subpoenas could be issued before Aug. 9.

With this 25-day period in effect, the Court made it difficult for the committees spearheading this initiative to potentially obtain Trump's financial information prior to the general election in November. Douglas Letter, the House’s general counsel, argued in the request that since the current Congress expires in January, their ability to seek the records “diminishes by the day.”

Trump has, so far, been the first president in decades to not publicly disclose his tax information. This has led to rampant, years-long speculation that Trump has engaged in illicit or unethical dealings during his career prior to the White House. The committees seeking these records have said that they might reveal instances of foreign money laundering, potentially linked to foreign interference in U.S. elections.

“The Committees voluntarily stayed enforcement of the subpoenas for more than six months as these cases made their way through the lower courts,” William Consovoy, Trump’s attorney, said in response to the request. “They should not be heard to complain that the proceedings are moving too slowly.”