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NEW YORK - President Donald Trump intends to continue his legal fight against the Manhattan district attorney over access to his tax records, according to a court filing Wednesday, and may argue the subpoena he faces is overly broad and motivated by politics.
Trump recently lost his bid to have the grand jury subpoena tossed on the grounds that as sitting president he has absolute immunity from state court proceedings. The Supreme Court decision last week favored efforts by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., whose office was investigating Trump and his business over hush money payments made to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign, including to pornography actress Stormy Daniels.
Vance's office, which is facing a looming statute of limitations should he decide to pursue a felony case, suggested it would not allow the new matters to drag on. It said in Wednesday's filing that it could enforce the subpoena immediately but would give the president until July 27 to file his new claims before doing so.
The office "will continue to forbear on execution of the Mazars subpoena pending the orderly resolution" of Trump's new claims, as long as the litigation "moves on an expedited basis."
The Supreme Court, in its 7-2 decision, left the door open for Trump to pursue other avenues in an attempt to kill the subpoena request to Trump's accounting firm Mazars USA. Trump's lawyers indicated Wednesday in a joint memo to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero that "further proceedings are necessary" and that an amended lawsuit seeking to block the subpoena would be filed soon.
Marrero, who initially handled the lawsuit by Trump against Vance, ordered the parties to detail whether litigation would continue. As a result of the Suprme Court's ruling, Trump is barred only from bringing up the presidential immunity issue, which is now considered settled.
He could argue that the request to Mazars is too broad, amounting to a "fishing expedition" or that it was issued in "bad faith" with an ulterior motive.
Trump is also seeking a delay on the new proceedings on technical grounds, arguing the Supreme Court did not formally send the case back to the Southern District of New York - which Vance’s office disputes.