Fox News’s Napolitano calls SCOTUS tax rulings a defeat for Trump

Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano said that the Supreme Court’s Thursday rulings on President Trump’s tax returns is “a defeat for the president.”

On Thursday the court granted New York state prosecutors access to Trump’s tax returns while also shielding a trove of his financial records from Congress. 

In Napolitano’s words, they ruled that Trump is “not immune from criminal prosecution and is not immune from complying with the ordinary process of criminal prosecution.”

“Ultimately, this might not affect the election, but it certainly will affect the president’s peace of mind,” Napolitano said.

“I would think this would be resolved before November,” Napolitano added, noting that Trump’s accountants “say they have it and they are ready to turn it over.” 

Fox News contributor Chris Stirewalt agreed with Napolitano, saying: “The truth here is this is a big defeat for Trump.” 

“What the Supreme Court said in sending this back is unambiguous, which is that Trump is going to see these things released to prosecutors and it’s not going to take that long because they’re ready to go,” he said. 

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin echoed Napolitano’s read on the ruling, saying it “is a legal defeat for the president, but it may be a practical victory” because it delays the release of the tax returns while litigation continues.