President Trump on Monday said he would appeal a federal judge’s decision upholding a subpoena for his financial records, blasting it as a “crazy” ruling by “an Obama-appointed judge.”
“We will appeal it,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. “It’s totally the wrong decision by, obviously, an Obama-appointed judge.”
Monday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, dealt a blow to the White House’s efforts to stymie congressional Democrats’ investigations into Trump.
{mosads}Mehta found that the House Oversight and Reform Committee had valid reasons for subpoenaing several years of Trump’s financial records from the accounting firm Mazars, even though the scope covered the time before he was president.
The White House and Trump’s legal team have argued that lawmakers have no legitimate legislative purpose in demanding the records and accused Democrats of trying to dig up dirt on the president for political reasons.
Trump has repeatedly attempted to hinder congressional Democrats’ efforts to investigate his administration, campaign and businesses, dismissing them as attempts to “get a redo” after special counsel Robert Mueller declined to charge him with crimes in the Russia investigation.
Some Democrats have said the president’s wide-ranging push to thwart their investigations could provide grounds for impeachment, but Trump chalked up those comments to sour grapes.
“The Democrats were very upset with the Mueller report, as perhaps they should be, but, I mean, the country is very happy about it,” he said. “And they’re trying to get a redo or a do-over, and you can’t do that.”
Democrats have said they subpoenaed Trump’s financial records to determine whether Trump has any conflicts of interest or if foreigners are in a position to exert influence over the president.
Trump’s critics have said he may be in violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which restricts payments from foreign governments to U.S. officials and have argued that ethics and financial disclosure laws may need to be strengthened.