'Please Bring It On:' Lawyer for Manhattan DA Calls for Urgency in Trump Tax Return Case
William Consovoy emphasized that the president's legal team has only reviewed the redacted version of the declaration and would like to view more of it. The president's planned discovery in the case would also be key, he said, arguing that Trump should not have to challenge a subpoena without understanding its scope.
July 16, 2020 at 05:14 PM
4 minute read
Senior U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York on Thursday pressed attorneys for President Donald Trump to demonstrate whether they have new information about the potential flaws in a Manhattan grand jury subpoena for the president's tax records.
Trump's lawsuit against his accounting firm and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. returned to Marrero's courtroom this month after the U.S. Supreme Court found, in a 7-2 ruling, that the president was not immune from investigation in state court.
Trump's attorney William Consovoy of Consovoy McCarthy plans to file an amended complaint by July 27, he wrote in a joint letter to Marrero this week. Carey Dunne, who is general counsel in Vance's office, said during a conference Thursday that the office intends to "immediately" file a motion to dismiss the complaint.
Marrero asked Consovoy whether he planned to provide additional facts in the case and questioned the planned pace, noting that the attorneys made their original arguments at a swift pace in fall 2019. Marrero dismissed Trump's petition in October, which led to a series of appeals.
"In the briefing of this case in the underlying action, the parties completed the briefing on a schedule completed in six days, whereas here they are proposing a much lengthier schedule … so it raises a question as to on what basis you need so much more additional time for briefing the much more limited issues that are involved here," he said.
Marrero also noted that he reviewed a declaration from assistant district attorney Solomon Shinerock in the fall and was satisfied that the DA's office had sufficient basis to warrant issuance of the subpoena. The public version of the declaration, which is redacted, indicates that Shinerock explained the nature of the grand jury investigation.
Consovoy emphasized that the president's legal team has only reviewed the redacted version of the declaration and would like to view more of it. The president's planned discovery in the case would also be key, he said, arguing that Trump should not have to challenge a subpoena without understanding its scope.
Dunne argued that the planned discovery is another example of delay from the president's team, with statutes of limitations issues looming. Further delay could mean that justice can't be brought against people or entities other than the president, Dunne said.
Because the Supreme Court ruled that investigations against the president are not subject to a heightened standard, Dunne argued that "it's just as if now he's still the CEO of a private company."
"A person like that, if he doesn't like his subpoena that he's received, he doesn't get to take the DA's deposition," Dunne said. "That's essentially what they're proposing here, is a discovery campaign, but he's still made no prima facie showing of any basis for his claims of overbreadth et cetera."
The Supreme Court found that Trump can still make subpoena-specific arguments, and Consovoy previewed some of those in the joint letter. Trump may argue, in his amended complaint, that the subpoena is aimed at manipulating policy or will impede his ability to perform his constitutional duties, Consovoy wrote.
Marrero urged Consovoy to include examples of the expected effects if he includes those arguments, while Dunne argued that the subpoena is addressed to the president's accountants and will not cause a burden.
Marrero eventually approved the schedule set forth in the joint letter, which gives Dunne a deadline of Aug. 3 to move against the amended complaint. Dunne indicated he intends to respond quickly.
"Whatever [the president] has left, please bring it on in one final submission, but please do so with the same alacrity that this court imposed a year ago," he said. "Let's not let delay kill this case, because we're confident that once we see whatever the supposed new claims are, they can be adjudicated and dismissed even more quickly than they were a year ago."
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