Trump plans to appeal House subpoena for financial records to Supreme Court

President Trump’s attorneys told a federal appeals court Thursday that they intend to take a legal battle with the House Oversight Committee over the president’s financial records to the Supreme Court.

Trump’s legal team asked the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to review a three-judge panel’s decision earlier this month upholding the Oversight Committee’s demand for the president’s finances. They also filed a separate motion to stay the circuit court’s decision, saying that they intend to “ask the Supreme Court to review whether the Mazars subpoena exceeds the Committee’s constitutional and statutory authority.”

The president’s lawyers argued that because there’s a reasonable chance that the Supreme Court will take up their petition, the appeals court should hold off on expediting last week’s order.

{mosads}The court filings come on the heels of an oral argument this week in a separate case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a similar subpoena to the Mazars accounting firm from the Manhattan District Attorney. The two sides in that case reached an agreement to fast-track questions over the president’s legal immunity to the Supreme Court.

The D.C. Circuit panel earlier this month ruled 2-1 in favor of the House Oversight Committee, upholding a district judge ruling allowing the subpoena to go into force. The president later appealed, leaving in place a hold on the subpoena until the court fight was resolved.

In the filings to the D.C. Circuit, Trump’s lawyer’s attacked last week’s decision, arguing that the congressional committee had no legitimate legislative purpose for seeking the financial records, and that the only way they can investigate presidential wrongdoing is through an impeachment proceeding, which the House’s lawyers have not invoked in this case.

But last week, the House panel asked the appeals court to expedite the order, citing an urgency created by the newly-launched impeachment inquiry.

“The Committee is engaged in oversight activity to examine whether federal officials—including the President—are making decisions in the country’s best interest and not for their own financial gain,” the committee’s lawyers wrote in their motion.

“Further, the House is now engaged in an impeachment investigation against President Trump, which is advancing on an expedited basis, and information received in response to the Mazars subpoena could be highly relevant to that inquiry as well.”