Supreme Court allows New York prosecutor to obtain Trump's tax returns

Former President Donald Trump just suffered a huge Supreme Court defeat.

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to obtain Trump's tax returns, CNN reports. The court decided not to intervene and prevent the records from being turned over, according to The Associated Press.

New York prosecutors have been seeking eight years of Trump's personal and business tax returns from his accounting firm as part of an investigation examining a "variety of business transactions," including alleged hush money payments made to two women claiming to have had affairs with Trump. An appeals court ruled in October that the tax returns had to be turned over in what was the latest legal blow for his efforts to conceal them. The court at the time said "there is nothing to suggest that these are anything but run-of-the-mill documents typically relevant to a grand jury investigation into possible financial or corporate misconduct," per CNN.

Following the Supreme Court's decision, Vance released a three word statement simply saying, "The work continues." Vance "can now require Trump's accountants to turn over the records," NBC News reports, while noting that since such material turned over to grand juries have to be kept secret, the records "might never be publicly released."

More stories from theweek.com
Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton divide conservatives over their new minimum wage plan
What New York City might reveal about declining COVID-19 cases
Is the new COVID normal preventing us from getting back to life?