Judge sides with House committee seeking Trump’s financial records

A federal judge in Washington, DC, on Monday declined to block a House subpoena to President Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his financial records.

Trump’s lawyers argued the subpoena was unconstitutional because it wasn’t tied to any specific legislation, Axios reported.

But lawyers for the House Oversight Committee said the financial disclosures would serve to improve existing ethics and disclosure laws and give new insight into whether Trump adhered to the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which bans him from cashing in on his presidency.

And Judge Amit Mehta, an appointee of former President Obama, declared that Congress was within its rights to investigate Trump.

Democratic House Oversight Committee chair Elijah Cummings last month issued a subpoena for all of Trump’s financial records from Mazars.

Cummings wrote then that the subpoena resulted from Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony that the president “altered the estimated value of his assets and liabilities on financial statements.”

House Democrats are trying to get their hands on Trump’s tax returns — which he refuses to release — and other financial information about his business empire.