Leftist Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed on Friday to put a temporary administrative hold on Democrats’ efforts to gain access to President Donald Trump’s tax records.
The move by Ginsburg came after Trump asked the nation’s highest court to temporarily halt two subpoenas for his financial records from House Democrats to Deutsche Bank and Capital One.
CNBC reported that Trump application “was submitted to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because she is assigned to the 2nd Circuit.”
CNN Supreme Court reporter Shimon Prokupecz noted that Ginsburg’s order “reflects that the court wants more time before deciding whether or not to block the House subpoenas.”
In her order, Ginsburg wrote:
UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for the applicants,
IT IS ORDERED that the mandate of the United States Supreme Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, case No. 19-1540, issued December 3, 2019, is hereby recalled and stayed until 5 p.m. on December 13, 2019. It is further ordered that a response be filed on or before December 11, 2019 by 11 a.m.
Politico reported, “Trump-related requests are piling up at the Supreme Court — and the outcomes could set precedent on significant questions related to separation-of-power issues and whether a president is immune from state-based criminal investigations while in office.”
“Trump’s lawyers asked the high court to put a hold a Dec. 3 ruling by Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directing the two banks to comply with April subpoenas by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and Intelligence Committee for the financial records,” CNBC said in a separate report. “The material sought by the committees includes records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities.”
The Financial Services and Intelligence committees have said they are investigating potential money laundering crimes to which the president has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The move by Democrats comes as they continue their efforts to impeach him over a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a call in which Democrats claim that Trump engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine by suggesting that U.S. military aid to the nation was contingent on Ukraine opening up investigations into Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Despite Democrats’ allegations, multiple witnesses in their public impeachment hearings on the House Intelligence Committee, including Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Senior NSC official Tim Morrison, Ambassador Kurt Volker, and Ambassador Gordon Sondland have all testified that there was no quid pro quo during Trump’s call with Zelensky.
Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who is Vice President Mike Pence’s National Security Adviser, released a statement last month stating that he was on the call and nothing improper happened: “I was on the much-reported July 25 call between President Donald Trump and President Zelensky. As an exceedingly proud member of President Trump’s Administration and as a 34-year highly experienced combat veteran who retired with the rank of Lieutenant General in the Army, I heard nothing wrong or improper on the call. I had and have no concerns.”
BREAKING: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has agreed to an administrative temporary stay blocking House Democrats from obtaining the president's tax records. https://t.co/DStuis1Zoe pic.twitter.com/64z2Klhx6d
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 6, 2019
This report has been updated to include additional information.