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New York
prosecutors
digging
into
Trump's
tax,
financial
records
By
Karen
Freifeld
reuters.com
New
York, NY
- After
a
lengthy
court
battle,
the
Manhattan
District
Attorney
is in
possession
of
Donald
Trump’s
tax
returns
and
other
financial
records
as part
of a
criminal
investigation
into the
former
president
and his
family-run
Trump
Organization,
a
spokesman
for the
office
confirmed
on
Thursday.
The
New York
prosecutor’s
office
obtained
the
voluminous
records
on
Monday,
the same
day the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
rejected
Trump’s
latest
attempt
to keep
his
longtime
accounting
firm,
Mazars
USA,
from
turning
over the
records.
Danny
Frost, a
spokesman
for
Manhattan
District
Attorney
Cyrus
Vance,
confirmed
the
office’s
receipt
of the
documents,
which
came
some 18
months
after a
subpoena
was
issued
for
them.
The
records,
which
include
eight
years of
tax
returns,
could
boost
the
district
attorney’s
investigation
into the
Trump
Organization.
Unlike
all
other
recent
U.S.
presidents,
Trump
refused
to make
his tax
returns
public.
The data
could
provide
details
on his
wealth
and the
activities
of the
family-run
real-estate
company.
A
spokesman
for
Mazars
USA did
not
immediately
respond
to a
request
for
comment.
On
Monday,
after
the
Supreme
Court
ruling,
Trump
issued a
statement
calling
Vance’s
investigation
part of
“the
greatest
political
Witch
Hunt in
the
history
of our
country.”
Vance
subpoenaed
Mazars
in 2019
seeking
Trump’s
corporate
and
personal
tax
returns
from
2011 to
2018.
Trump’s
lawyers
sued to
block
the
subpoena,
arguing
that a
sitting
president
has
absolute
immunity
from
state
criminal
investigations.
The
Supreme
Court in
July
rejected
those
arguments
but said
Trump
could
raise
other
objections.
Trump’s
lawyers
then
told
lower
courts
the
subpoena
was
overly
broad
and
amounted
to
political
harassment
but the
lower
courts
rejected
those
claims
last
year.
Vance’s
investigation
initially
focused
on hush
money
paid by
former
Trump
lawyer
Michael
Cohen
before
the 2016
election
to
adult-film
actress
Stormy
Daniels
and
former
Playboy
model
Karen
McDougal.
The two
women
said
they had
sexual
encounters
with
Trump,
which he
denied.
In
court
filings,
Vance
later
suggested
the
probe
had
broadened
and
could
focus on
potential
bank,
tax and
insurance
fraud,
as well
as
falsification
of
business
records.
Vance’s
receipt
of the
documents
does not
mean
they
will
become
public.
The
New York
Times
obtained
some of
the
records
and
reported
last
year
that
Trump
had paid
$750 in
federal
income
taxes in
both
2016 and
2017,
and no
income
taxes in
10 of
the
prior 15
years.
Trump
has
disputed
the
Times
report.
Reporting
by Karen
Freifeld;
Editing
by
Noeleen
Walder
and Bill
Berkrot
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