NEW YORK (AP) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office told a federal appeals court Monday that its quest to gain access to President Donald Trump’s tax returns is supported by “a mountainous record” of public allegations of misconduct.
The president and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have been battling for more than a year over a subpoena sent to Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, seeking eight year’s worth of his tax documents.
Attorneys for Trump have argued that Vance, a Democrat, is just trying to smear the president with an overly broad investigation that has no legal basis.
In a filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for Vance again declined to reveal exactly why Trump is under investigation, citing grand jury secrecy rules.
But they cited multiple news reports in which Trump or his companies have been accused of overstating the value of his assets when dealing with potential business partners and lenders while minimizing the value of those same assets for tax purposes.
“Any investigation into the types of potential financial improprieties…
