President Donald Trump speaks at an event Monday at the White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI |
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July 14 (UPI) -- House Democrats have signaled they will keep pursuing President Donald Trump's financial records, after the Supreme Court sent the issue back down to a lower court last week.
House attorneys filed an application with the Supreme Court late Monday urging justices to quickly implement its ruling -- which denied Democratic lawmakers access to the records from accounting firm Mazars USA and two banks -- so they can renew their legal challenge.
Democrats seek the records as part of an inquiry into purported "hush money" paid by the president to two women to keep secret extramarital affairs.
Investigators are eyeing possible links between the banks, money laundering activities and loans to Trump and his businesses. The Trump administration sued to block the request, claiming the fiscal records are shielded under executive privilege.
Normally, the case would not return to the lower court until Aug. 3, but House attorney Douglas Letter said in the filing that "immediate issuance of this court's judgments" would aid the House in obtaining records "necessary to undertake any needed legislative reforms as quickly as possible."
The Supreme Court ruled last week that although the subpoena may be enforceable, lower courts erred by failing to thoroughly examine whether it violates separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch.
The decision made it unlikely the public will see any of the records before the November election.
The case is one of three that went before the high court involving Trump's financial records, including tax returns that the president at one time promised to release but never has. In one of the other cases, the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration and said a Manhattan grand jury could see the president's financial records.