The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested Monday that President Donald Trump and his company had been under investigation for possible bank and insurance fraud.
The revelation came in a filing by DA Cyrus Vance Jr. that urged a federal judge to reject Trump’s new legal push to block prosecutors from obtaining his tax returns and other financial records through a grand jury subpoena, New York Times reports.
Trump has asked a judge to declare the subpoena invalid.
Read More: Supreme Court says Congress can’t get Trump records, for now
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the Manhattan district attorney’s demand for Trump’s tax returns, but kept a hold on his financial records that Congress has been seeking for more than a year, theGrio previously reported.
The outcome in the two cases is at least a short-term victory for Trump, who has strenuously sought to keep his financial records private.
Vance’s office is reportedly seeking Trump’s financial records as part of a probe into the hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors also want to deep dive into reports that the president illegally inflated his net worth, and value of his properties, to lenders and insurers, according to the Times report.
As part of the investigation, statements from Trump’s former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, are also under review, as he previously confessed to lawmakers that Trump committed insurance fraud.
When asked at a White House press briefing Monday about the possible probe into his business dealings, Trump said, “This is a continuation of the worst witch hunt in American history.”
He added, “It’s a terrible thing that they do, he said, referring to Democrats. “It’s really a terrible thing. The witch hunt has gone on long enough.”
“It’s Democrat stuff, they failed with Mueller, they failed with everything, they failed with Congress, they failed at every stage of the game,” Trump said.
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In a recent federal court hearing, Vance’s office accused Trump of intentionally dragging out the legal proceedings in order to avoid criminal investigation.
“What the president’s lawyers are seeking here is delay,” Carey R. Dunne, a lawyer in Vance’s office, told the Judge during the recent hearing.
The longer Trump fights the case, the more likely the statute of limitations will expire, granting him immunity.
“Let’s not let delay kill this case,” Dunne argued.
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