Judge allows subpoena of Trump’s financial records

WASHINGTON—A federal judge on Monday ordered an accounting firm to comply with a congressional subpoena and hand over eight years of President Donald Trump’s financial records. The House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoenaed Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, in April. Democrats said they needed the records to examine whether the president or his businesses violated the Constitution through inappropriate financial entanglements with foreign entities. Trump’s legal team argued that the committee had no legitimate legislative purpose for requesting the financial records and was abusing its constitutional authority by probing for dirt on the president.

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta sided with the lawmakers’ argument that they have a legitimate purpose for the subpoena. “These are facially valid legislative purposes, and it is not for the court to question whether the committee’s actions are truly motivated by political considerations,” he wrote in the opinion.

Trump told reporters outside the White House Monday he will appeal the ruling rather than allow Mazars USA to comply. “As far as the financials are concerned, it’s totally the wrong decision by obviously an Obama-appointed judge,” he said.

The president and his legal team have vowed to fight all of House Democrats’ subpoenas and other attempts at oversight. Former White House counsel Don McGahn will skip Tuesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, his lawyer said. Trump had instructed McGahn to not comply with the subpoena requesting him to testify about the findings in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. It is unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will move to hold McGahn in contempt of Congress if he does not show, as they did in May with Attorney General William Barr when he refused to hand over the unredacted Mueller report.