Indivisibles,
Breaking news -- on the last day of the session, the Supreme Court handed
down mixed decisions on two of Donald Trump’s tax returns cases! First the
good news: the first decision explicitly rejected the idea that Trump has
“absolute immunity” from being subpoenaed by a grand jury in New York,
which is a clear win for the rule of law (how messed up is it that we’re
celebrating what should be such an easy principle to uphold?). The bad
news is that the decision doesn’t necessarily mean that Trump must
immediately turn over his taxes. That means that the New York case will be
wrapped up in the courts for months to come.
The second case dealt with whether Congress has the authority to subpoena
Trump’s taxes. This should have been an easy, decisive win for
Congressional investigators, yet the court decided to send the case back
to the lower courts, effectively deciding they didn’t want to deal with
the issue.
The tl;dr version: New York prosecutors, Congress, and voters won’t see
Trump’s taxes before the November election -- [ [link removed] ]which means Trump can
continue hiding his taxes, despite serious concerns about his financial
dealings with foreign governments.
In the last few weeks, Trump publicly signaled that he wants a Supreme
Court vacancy in the coming months as a way to boost his sagging approval
ratings after months of (gestures around the room) all of this. A vacancy
will have major implications for the future of the judiciary, further
entrenching the right-wing politicization of the federal bench, and also
giving the GOP a fresh opportunity to rally around Trump ahead of the
election.
Luckily, we’ve got a plan to take on Trump, the Supreme Court, and the
Senate in November. Keep reading if you’d like to know more about the
Trump tax return decision, or if you’re already on top of the latest news,
jump down to ‘what you can do’.
How we got here
The cases involving Trump’s taxes and financial documents are Trump v.
Mazars and Trump v. Vance, and they center on House Congressional
subpoenas as well as a subpoena seeking the same documents for a grand
jury investigation by the District Attorney in Manhattan. Each of these
cases is looking at whether there are links or coordination between the
Russian government or related foreign actors and individuals associated
with Trump’s campaign, transition, administration, or business interests.
Trump’s lawyers challenged orders by lower courts to turn over his
financial records to committees in the House, as well as to local
prosecutors in Manhattan investigating hush-money payments. Trump has
repeatedly refused to turn over his tax returns -- meaning the American
people don’t know who he does business with and who he owes money to,
including whether or not he is in debt to foreign governments.
Despite the fact that six different federal courts have heard these cases,
and all six have ruled against Trump, the GOP and Trump are doing
everything they can ahead of the election to shield his personal finances
from public view. This ruling delays the ability of congressional and
state investigators to root out corruption in the executive branch.
What you can do
Yes, today’s decisions could have been worse. But that doesn’t mean the
Supreme Court is off the hook. Senate Republicans moved quickly to put
right-wing conservatives like Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch on the
bench, and now they’re aiming for a third to solidify their conservative
majority -- not to mention Mitch McConnell has been busy packing the lower
courts with hundreds of young, conservative, and oftentimes unqualified
judges who’ll serve the rest of their lives on the bench. Now more than
ever, it’s clear that we need to reform the courts.
But we can’t do any of that without taking back the Senate. The GOP’s
impact on the makeup of the federal courts and the Supreme Court is yet
another reason we need to take back the Senate this year. That’s why we
launched the Payback Project a few months ago -- but we need your help.
[ [link removed] ]If you can, click here to support the Payback Project, take back the
Senate, fix the courts, and fund all our work this year.
In the last few weeks, we’ve gotten some decent Supreme Court rulings, but
that doesn’t negate the fact that Trump, the GOP, and Mitch McConnell have
worked hard to make the courts into a right-wing extension of their
agenda. With your help, we’re going to hold our elected officials
accountable and we’ll be getting payback for all of the ways that Trump
and the GOP have subverted our democracy in an effort to serve their own
interests. In November, we’re going to take back the Senate and fix the
Supreme Court -- together.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
P.S.: In another pretty shocking yet incredible decision, the Supreme
Court also ruled today that huge portions of Oklahoma, including Tulsa,
are still technically tribal land. The Court ruled that the government
must abide by the promises it made in treaties with indigenous tribes
dating back hundreds of years. This case could have significant
implications for tribal sovereignty going forward, and we'll be keeping an
eye on it.
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