在最高法院受理了三起与总统财务记录有关的案件后，围绕唐纳德·特朗普的纳税申报单长达数年的法律摊牌可能最终在2020年结束。
特朗普是几十年来第一个不自愿向公众公开其税务记录的总司令。他也是近代史上唯一一位就职后不撤资的总统，这在他的总统任期内引发了几个伦理和法律问题。
其中一个案件涉及曼哈顿地区检察官对特朗普组织可能违反纽约州法律的调查，例如不恰当地记录财富估值以逃避纳税或保险。地方检察官正在寻求特朗普八年的纳税申报单。
另外两起案件涉及众议院民主党人发出的传票，他们正在向总统、他的孩子和他的企业寻求记录，作为对可能的利益冲突和外国影响的调查的一部分。
特朗普和他的法律团队认为，这些对他的财务记录的要求相当于出于政治动机的攻击，他的律师表示，特朗普应该通过总统豁免权免受刑事调查。
辩论定于3月举行，可能在2020年6月前做出决定，届时将正好是总统选举的中期。
以下是每个案例的细目表，包含您需要了解的所有信息:
曼哈顿地区检察官调查
曼哈顿检察官正在调查向两名声称与特朗普有染的女性支付的秘密款项。调查人员正在调查为什么总统和他的公司特朗普组织在2016年选举前偿还了他的律师迈克尔·科恩支付给成人电影明星斯托米·丹尼尔斯的款项。作为调查的一部分，曼哈顿地区检察官塞鲁斯·万斯传唤特朗普的会计师事务所马萨尔美国公司，索要与调查相关的文件。
最高法院将不得不对万斯获得的大陪审团传票做出裁决。美国第二巡回上诉法院此前裁定，会计师事务所必须遵守曼哈顿地区检察官移交记录的要求。
在这种情况下，特朗普要求最高法院在下级法院做出不利于他的裁决后介入。11月14日，总统请求高等法院审理此案。
特朗普的法律团队在请愿书中写道:“宪法将授权数千名州和地方检察官将总统卷入刑事诉讼是不可想象的。”。他们补充说，“国家刑事程序对总统构成的实际威胁怎么强调也不过分。”
特朗普一再公开否认与这两名女性的所谓关系。
科恩曾参与向前《花花公子》模特凯伦·麦克道戈支付秘密款项，目前因一系列罪行正在服刑，包括税务欺诈、银行欺诈和向国会撒谎。
众议院委员会传唤德意志银行，第一资本
众议院金融服务委员会已经传唤了两家与特朗普及其家人打过交道的银行出具的大量金融文件。
这些委员会表示，他们需要德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)和第一资本(Capital One)的文件，作为对外国实体影响美国政治进程的调查的一部分，以确定外国代理人是否对总统拥有财务杠杆。
2019年12月24日，唐纳德·特朗普总统向驻扎在佛罗里达州棕榈滩的马拉加庄园的全球军队发出视频电话。特朗普要求最高法院介入几起要求查阅其财务记录的法庭案件。
传票寻求总统的银行和经纪账户记录、贷款记录、信用额度以及与特朗普及其家人打交道的银行员工的其他文件。特朗普及其家人今年起诉了两家银行，试图阻止它们对传票做出回应。总统的法律团队认为众议院民主党发出的传票“没有合法或立法目的”
但是联邦上诉法院在12月裁定众议院民主党人可以执行传票。
乔恩·纽曼法官在裁决中写道:“委员会在履行其宪法立法职能方面的利益远比避免行政长官因披露反映其私人金融交易的文件而分心的风险所固有的任何公共利益更为重要。”。
众议院委员会调查特朗普是否不当膨胀、收缩资产
第三起案件还涉及众议院监督委员会向特朗普的会计师事务所马扎尔美国公司发出传票。该委员会认为，它需要这些文件，因为它们可以阐明现有的财务披露和道德法律是否有效。
科恩在国会作证称特朗普不恰当地夸大和缩小了对其资产和负债的估计后，众议院民主党于4月发出传票。科恩说，货币数字被调整，以使特朗普看起来更有信用风险，或者降低他的保险费。
传票发出时，已故众议员以利亚·卡明斯(Elijah Cummings)是监督委员会的负责人，他在一份备忘录中写道，这一请求也是基于“佐证文件”，这些文件“令人严重质疑总统的财务报告是否准确。”
传票在10月份被华盛顿巡回上诉法院维持。
大卫·泰特法官在裁决中写道:“与总统的观点相反，根据众议院规则和宪法，委员会拥有发出传票的权力，马扎必须服从。”。
SUPREME COURT TO TAKE ON THREE CASES RELATED TO TRUMP'S FINANCES IN 2020: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The years-long legal showdown over Donald Trump's tax returns may finally come to an end in 2020 after the Supreme Court takes on three cases regarding the president's financial records.
Trump is the first commander-in-chief in decades not to voluntarily make his tax records available to the public. He's also the only president in modern history not to divest his business entities upon entering office, which has raised several ethical and legal issues during his presidency.
One case involves a Manhattan District Attorney investigation into the Trump Organization's potential violations of New York state law, such as improperly recording wealth estimates to avoid paying taxes or insurance. The district attorney is seeking eight years of Trump's tax returns.
The other two cases involve subpoenas issued by House Democrats who are seeking records from the president, his children and his businesses as part of investigations into possible conflicts of interest and foreign influence.
Trump and his legal team have argued that these requests for his financial records amount to politically motivated attacks, and his lawyers say that Trump should be protected from criminal investigations through presidential immunity.
The arguments are scheduled for March and a decision could be reached by June 2020, which will be right in the middle of the presidential election.
Here's a breakdown of each case with everything you need to know:
Manhattan District Attorney Investigation
Manhattan prosecutors are looking into hush-money payments made to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Investigators are looking at why the president and his company, the Trump Organization, reimbursed his attorney Michael Cohen for payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. As part of the probe, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance subpoenaed Mazars USA, Trump's accounting firm, for documents relating to the inquiry.
The Supreme Court will have to decide whether Mazars USA has to respond to the grand jury subpoena obtained by Vance. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled that the accounting firm had to comply with the Manhattan District Attorney's request to hand over the records.
In this case, Trump requested that the Supreme Court get involved after the lower court ruled against him. On November 14, the president petitioned the high court to hear the case.
"That the Constitution would empower thousands of state and local prosecutors to embroil the president in criminal proceedings is unimaginable," Trump's legal team wrote in the petition. They added that the "practical threat that state criminal process poses to a president cannot be overstated."
Trump has repeatedly publicly denied the alleged relationships with the two women.
Cohen, who was involved in hush-money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, is serving a three-year prison sentence for a slew of crimes including tax fraud, bank fraud and lying to Congress.
House Committee Subpoenas to Deutsche Bank, Capital One
The House Financial Services Committee has subpoenaed a broad range of financial documents from two banks that have dealt with Trump and members of his family.
The committees say they need the documents from Deutsche Bank and Capital One as part of an investigation into efforts by foreign entities to influence the U.S. political process to determine whether foreign agents have financial leverage over the president.
President Donald Trump makes a video call to the troops stationed worldwide at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida, on December 24, 2019. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on several court cases requesting access to his financial records.
The subpoenas seek the president's bank and brokerage account records, loan records, lines of credit and other documents from bank employees that deal with Trump and his family. Trump and several members of his family sued the two banks this year seeking to block them from responding to the subpoenas. The president's legal team has argued that the subpoenas issued by House Democrats had "no legitimate or legislative purpose."
But a federal appeals court ruled in December that House Democrats could enforce the subpoenas.
"The Committees' interests in pursuing their constitutional legislative function is a far more significant public interest than whatever public interest inheres in avoiding the risk of a Chief Executive's distraction arising from disclosure of documents reflecting his private financial transactions," Judge Jon Newman wrote in the ruling.
House Committee Investigating Whether Trump Improperly Inflated, Deflated Assets
The third case also involves a subpoena issued to Mazars USA, Trump's accounting firm, by the House Oversight Committee. The committee has argued that it needs the documents because they can shed light on whether existing financial disclosure and ethics laws are working.
House Democrats issued the subpoena in April after Cohen testified before Congress that Trump had improperly inflated and deflated estimates of his assets and liabilities. Cohen said that monetary figures were adjusted to make Trump seem like a better credit risk or to lower his insurance premiums.
Late Rep. Elijah Cummings, who was the head of the Oversight Committee at the time the subpoena was issued, wrote in a memo that the request was also based on "corroborating documents" that "raise grave questions about whether the President has been accurate in his financial reporting."
The subpoena was upheld by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in October.
"Contrary to the President's arguments, the Committee possesses authority under both the House Rules and the Constitution to issue the subpoena, and Mazars must comply," Judge David Tatel wrote in the ruling.
