DOJ Joins Trump’s Suit To Block New York Tax Returns

CNN reports:

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Monday that it plans to participate in the lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump to block a subpoena by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for eight years of his tax returns.

In a letter sent to the judge in the case, the office’s civil division chief said it would file a submission in the case by Wednesday, the deadline set by the judge last week. Broader constitutional questions are at the heart of the dispute over the subpoenas, including whether the President can be criminally investigated.

Trump sued the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office two weeks ago after it sent his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, a grand jury subpoena seeking tax returns and related documents going back to 2011.

The Southern District of New York was previously headed by Preet Bharara, an Obama appointee who was fired by Trump in 2017 and replaced by Geoffrey Berman [photo], who worked on Trump’s transition team. Berman recused himself from the Michael Cohen probe and gained national notoriety after the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein by his office.