Late Monday evening the Supreme Court granted President Donald Trump's request for an emergency injunction to block Congressional Democrats' subpoena for the president's financial records. The subpoena is put on hold until Trump files an appeal with the lower court by Dec. 5, The Washington Times reported.
What happens next will be determined by the lower court. If the court takes up the case, the injunction will remain in place and keep the House Democrats from obtaining the records as part of their impeachment probe. If the court decides not to hear the case, the injunction expires and Trump must turn the documents over to Democrats.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Supreme Court justices wanted to make sure Trump's challenge was filed quickly so a decision was made before the 2020 election.
The House Oversight Committee wants Mazars USA LLP, Trump's accounting firm, to hand over financial documents – both personal and business related, from 2011 to the present.
“The committee is investigating whether senior government officials, including the president, are acting in the country’s best interest and not in their own financial interest, whether federal agencies are operating free from financial conflicts and with accurate information, and whether any legislative reforms are needed to ensure that these fundamental principles are respected,” House General Counsel Douglas Letter told the justices in a filing Thursday.
Trump's personal lawyer, William Consovoy, told the court Trump is “prepared to proceed on any schedule that the court deems appropriate.”
Consovoy argued the House Democrats' subpoena "is a significant separation-of-powers clash between the president and Congress," the Washington Post reported.