Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Justice Roberts Puts Temporary Stay on House Effort to Obtain Trump Tax Returns


The Democrat effort to obtain President Trump’s tax records has been an ongoing battle for several years [background here].  The democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee have been using Lawfare in order to present a false legislative justification for them, in an ongoing effort to find something -anything- to use against President Trump.

The Supreme Court already decided on case in President Trump’s favor [Trump v Mazars] in a separation of powers issue; however, the witch hunt continued.  In a separate case today, and with Chief Judge Roberts trying to extricate the judicial branch from the ongoing battle, Judge Roberts granted a stay until after the 2022 election.

Essentially, the Chief Judge appears to see the partisan nature of the demand, and in an effort to keep the Supreme Court out of the battle, he has put the outcome of the 2022 midterm election as the fulcrum for this next round of battle between President Trump and the Democrats in the House.  If the Republicans win the majority, the issue should seemingly disappear.

The motive behind the decision seems clear. From the position of Roberts, it would appear this approach is the better distancing procedure.

WASHINGTON DC – Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked a House committee from obtaining several years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

The chief justice ordered the stay to freeze the House Ways and Means Committee’s request for the documents, which Trump has fought for years. The former president on Monday filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the case after a federal appeals court last week denied Trump’s request to block the release of his tax returns.

Roberts granted Trump’s request by placing an administrative stay on the tax returns, which is temporary and “pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.” The chief justice gave the House panel until Nov. 10 to respond to Trump’s application to delay the committee from obtaining years of his tax records from the Treasury Department. (more)

If Democrats lose the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will almost certainly retire, and the Committee chair assignments will flip to Republican control.  It’s all about the politics of positioning… Judge Roberts is trying to find an exit for SCOTUS.