The Manhattan District Attorney is accusing President Donald Trump of stalling to delay court proceedings amid the subpoena for his unreleased financial records and tax returns.
During a hearing on Thursday morning, Carey Dunne, who serves as general counsel with the district attorney’s office, discussed the president’s strategy as a means of “absolute temporary immunity.”
“What the president’s lawyers are seeking here is delay,” Dunne said. “I think that’s the entire strategy. Every day that goes by, the president wins the type of absolute temporary immunity he’s been seeking in this case, even though he’s lost on that claim before every court that’s heard it, including now the Supreme Court.”
However, Trump’s legal team has criticized the Supreme Court for rejecting their argument about the president’s immunity. Now, their legal defense is centered on fighting the subpoena.
William Consovoy, who serves as one of Trump’s personal attorneys, argued that the seemingly broad subpoena is not “properly tailored.”
“We believe that we can further allege — if the president chooses to do so — that this is not a properly tailored subpoena,” Consovoy said.
Consovoy went on to express skepticism of the subpoenas. He compared the New York County subpoena to federal subpoenas issued during House Committee’s investigations as he noted the similarities between the two.
“Although the president has not had access to the entire declaration from the district attorney’s office, we continue to be deeply skeptical that a subpoena from a New York county fortuitously is exactly the same scope and feature as two different federal investigations focused on federal issues,” Consovoy said.
The latest arguments come one week after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s last claim of special immunity against grand jury subpoenas.
At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled against Trump’s bid to conceal his financial records which include his tax returns, as previously reported on IJR.
“President may avail himself of the same protections available to every other citizen, including the right to challenge the subpoena on any grounds permitted by state law, which usually include bad faith and undue burden or breadth,” Roberts said.
Trump’s lawyers have the option to file another lawsuit against the Manhattan district attorney’s office arguing the design of the investigative demand. However, they must do so by July 27.
