WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday
cleared the way for prosecutors in New York to see President Trump’s financial records, a stunning defeat for Mr. Trump but a decision that probably means the records will be shielded from public scrutiny under grand jury secrecy rules until after the election, and perhaps indefinitely.
In a separate decision, the court ruled
that Congress could not, at least for now, see many of the same records.
The vote in both cases was 7 to 2. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote both majority opinions.
The court’s decision in favor of the New York prosecutors was a major statement on the scope and limits of presidential power, one that will take its place with landmark rulings that required President Richard M. Nixon to turn over tapes of Oval Office conversations and forced President Bill Clinton to provide evidence in a sexual harassment suit.
In the case concerning the prosecutors’ subpoena,
Chief Justice Roberts wrote that “no citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.”
He added that Mr. Trump may still raise objections to the scope and relevance of the subpoena.
The court’s four more liberal members joined that majority opinion, and Mr. Trump’s two appointees, Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, voted with the majority but did not adopt its reasoning.
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