NYC Prosecutors Now Have Trump’s Tax Records in Hand

MANHATTAN (CN) — Donald Trump's accountants turned over his tax records, New York City’s top prosecutor said Thursday, only days after the Supreme Court rejected the former president's latest delay tactic.

Spokesman Danny Frost confirmed on Thursday that the documents are in hand after the Manhattan district attorney's office enforced a subpoena on Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, nearly immediately following the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday. 

Trump’s attorneys have effectively keeping the process in limbo for over a year, though the scope of Vance’s probe remains unknown.

Grand jury secrecy rules ensure that the financial records obtained by Vance’s office cannot be made public. 

What is known is that the subpoena asked Mazars USA to produce the final versions of Trump's tax returns, along with draft versions of those returns, and "any and all statements of financial condition, annual statements, periodic financial reports, and independent auditors' reports" held by the company. 

“The work continues,” was all Vance said on Monday in reaction to news of the Supreme Court’s ruling. 

The investigation by the Manhattan DA initially focused on hush-money payments that Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, made before the 2016 election to two women ― adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal ― who said they had sexual encounters with Trump. 

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for his part in facilitating those payments, which prosecutors noted were made “at the coordination with and the direction of Individual-1.” 

Subsequent filings dispensed with the veiling of “Individual-1” used to shield Trump’s name from court records. 

In the intervening years, New York’s investigation has reportedly expanded into a probe of Trump’s businesses for possible allegations of tax evasion, and bank and insurance fraud. 

Vance, who faces reelection later this year, is leading the investigation along with his general counsel, Carey Dunne, who made arguments on behalf of the office at various appellate court hearings.  

Vance's office has also retained former mafia prosecutor Mark Pomerantz as a special assistant district attorney to assist in the investigation. 

Trump managed to effectively delay the enforcement of Vance’s subpoenas during his single term as president. He filed suit in September 2019 to block the subpoenas before Mazars could hand over the sought-after tax returns, only to see his challenge eviscerated by a New York federal judge and defeated again by the Second Circuit. 

In late September 2020, The New York Times published the results of its own investigation into Trump’s tax returns, exposing that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he won the presidency, and in 2017, his first year in office.   

The New York Times’ investigation, which Trump hastily dismissed as “totally fake news,” also found that he paid no federal income taxes in prior years going back a decade.  Trump is also under audit over a $72.9 million tax refund that could cost him more than $100 million if the IRS rules against him, the Times revealed.  

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