The Manhattan DA can execute a subpoena to obtain Donald Trump's personal and corporate tax returns according to new ruling Wednesday from a federal appeals panel, writes The New York Times. The three-judge panel dismissed the case with prejudice, blocking Trump from refiling a challenge to the subpoena on the same grounds. The federal judge who previously rejected Trump's legal challenge to the subpoena also dismissed the case with prejudice.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance had said he would not enforce the subpoena until the court ruled. The Times reports Vance's office has further committed to waiting another 12 days on the condition that Trump's lawyers do not delay in appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Trump's lawyers have argued the subpoena is overly broad and nothing more than an exercise in political harassment—a charge that has been roundly rejected by both courts. The case is almost surely headed to the Supreme Court now, which in July ruled against Trump's initial claim to total immunity as a sitting president. The high court, however, left open the possibility that Trump could challenge parts of the subpoena on different grounds.
But Vance has already had some success in obtaining Trump’s financial records. Deutsche Bank, Trump’s longtime lender, turned over a number of detailed records to Vance’s office last year. Getting Trump’s returns would provide a missing piece in the puzzle in what looks to be a broad investigation into financial fraud by Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization.