Trump ordered to make financial records accessible

Judge Amit Mehta, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled this week that the House Oversight Committee’s 22 April subpoena of Mazars, the company that manages President Donald Trump’s private finances and holds his financial records, was within the committee’s authority. A Jurist report notes that House Chair Elijah Cummings moved to compel these records following Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony in February. Trump and his business organisations filed a lawsuit to block the subpoena. Mehta wrote that Trump cannot block the subpoena because the Oversight Committee is practising ‘facially valid legislative purposes,’ and it is not for the court to question whether the committee’s actions are truly motivated by political considerations. According to the Oversight Committee, its purported use of the records are that it believes they will aid its consideration of strengthening ethics and disclosure laws, possibly amending the penalties for violating such laws, and assist in monitoring the President’s compliance with the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Trump’s lawyers have already filed a notice of appeal.