Accountants Must Handle Trump's Financial Registers, Rules of Judges of Courts Below

WASHINGTON – President Trump's accounting firm is due to submit its financial records to Congress, a district court judge said on Monday, rejecting his legal team's argument that the legislator had no legitimate authority to assign the files to appear.

But Mr Trump promised that his legal team would appeal rather than allow Mazars USA to comply with the subpoena and ruling, so the legal battle is far from over.

The ruling by Amit P. Mehta, US District Court Judge, was an early judicial test of the President's promise to systematically suppress "all subpoenas" issued by the Democrats. of the House, which hindered their ability to supervise Mr. Trump and the executive branch after taking control of the chamber in mid-term elections last year.

[[[[Read the decision.]

Mr. Trump's legal team, led by William S. Consovoy, argued that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform had no legitimate legislative purpose to search for Mr. Trump's financial statements and was simply looking for to dig the ground – as to find out if the president broke all the laws – for political reasons, the summons exceeded his constitutional authority.

But Democrats have said they need the archives because they are looking for whether outsiders are able to use trade relations with the president to exert a hidden influence on US policy making and whether the laws pertaining to Ethics and disclosure need to be strengthened.

Mehta J. stated that the justification was sufficient for the subpoena to be valid.

"These are apparently valid legislative objectives, and it is not up to the court to question whether the committee's actions are really motivated by political considerations," he wrote. "As a result, the court will pronounce judgment in favor of the Supervisory Committee."

The judge – a representative of former President Barack Obama – also rejected Mr. Consovoy's claim that, if he ruled against Mr. Trump, he suspended his decision until the decision was made. Court of Appeal of the District of Columbia has completed its Case.

The judge said Mr. Trump's legal arguments were too weak to warrant a stay, as they did not raise a "serious legal issue", adding that the suspension would amount to interference in the constitutional powers of Congress.

"The court is well aware that this case concerns cases concerning the private and commercial affairs of the President of the United States," he wrote. "But on the issue of whether or not to grant a stay of proceedings pending the appeal, the chair is subject to the same legal standard as any other litigant who does not prevail."

Mr Trump accused Democrats of trying to get a "remake" of Mueller's investigation. "They are trying to make what we call school a blow," he told reporters at South Lawn early Monday night before leaving for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Judge Mehta appeared to signal initial skepticism about Mr. Consovoy's arguments at a hearing on May 14, highlighting several previous congressional inquiries – such as President Richard M. Nixon's investigation into the Watergate case and that of President Bill Clinton in Whitewater – this would appear illegitimate in light of the logic of the Trump legal team.