A judge has ordered US President Donald Trump to hand over eight years of his tax returns to a New York state criminal investigation.<\/p>\n
The judge rejected arguments by the president’s lawyers that total immunity protects him while in office.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump is the only presidential candidate since the 1960s apart from Gerald Ford not to release tax returns.<\/p>\n
The ruling helps an investigation into hush money paid to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr Trump.<\/p>\n
In his 75-page decision on Monday, Judge Victor Marrero said he could not allow a “categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process”.<\/p>\n
“The only thing truly absolute about presidential immunity from criminal process is the Constitution’s silence about the existence and contours of such an exemption,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
Judge Marrero concluded that the president’s argument, at its core, was “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values”.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump’s lawyers immediately filed an emergency appeal with a higher court.<\/p>\n
The president tweeted about the ruling on Monday, claiming that Democrats were “pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump”.<\/p>\n
The investigation concerns hush money payments made by Mr Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to two women – adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal – who allege affairs with Mr Trump, which he denies.<\/p>\n
Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr is looking into whether Mr Trump’s organisation broke any election campaign laws by reimbursing Mr Cohen for the payments.<\/p>\n
If Judge Marrero’s ruling is not overturned, Mr Vance can enforce an earlier legal demand he issued to Mr Trump’s accountants for the tax returns.<\/p>\n
Mr Vance has said that currently, the president “has not been identified as a defendant nor is there an assumption he will be”,\u00a0according to the Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hush money payments were not reported to the Federal Election Commission during the campaign.<\/p>\n The question is whether the payments were made to protect Mr Trump’s personal reputation or to protect his image as a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n Under US election rules, any payments made with the aim of influencing a vote must be reported.<\/p>\n Mr Cohen this year pleaded guilty to violating laws during the 2016 election over his handling of the hush money, and is currently serving a three-year federal prison sentence for the finance violation and other crimes.<\/p>\n But Mr Trump has insisted the payment was legal and did not come from campaign finances. He has also accused his former fixer of making up stories to receive a lighter sentence.<\/p>\n The Republican president’s lawyers have criticised the investigation as politically motivated.<\/p>\n Democratic President Bill Clinton appointed Judge Marrero in 1999.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"