44 OpEdNews Op Eds 11/15/2019 at 4:56 PM EST    Asking Supreme Court to Shield His Tax Returns, Trump Claims He Is "Absolutely Immune" From Criminal Investigation By Common Dreams       (Page 2 of 2 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   No comments

4:33 PM - Nov 14, 2019

In October, as Common Dreams reported, Judge Victor Marrero of the Federal District Court in Manhattan rejected Trump's claim of absolute immunity from criminal investigations, calling it "repugnant."

"This court cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process as being countenanced by the nation's constitutional plan," wrote Marrero. "The expansive notion of constitutional immunity invoked here to shield the president from judicial process would constitute an overreach of executive power."

Trump's petition to the Supreme Court -- which the president has driven further to the right by appointing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- came just a day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to review an earlier appeals court ruling that rejected Trump's effort to block a House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoena for eight years of his federal tax returns.

Jay Sekulow, one of the president's attorneys, quickly signaled Trump would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

"That President Trump is going to the Supreme Court to try to avoid scrutiny of his finances does not exactly inspire confidence in what will be found in his tax returns," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tweeted Thursday.

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