Delay in Trump’s financial documents cases clouds House power on investigations

Washington CNN — The Supreme Court’s decision to postpone indefinitely cases related to President Donald Trump’s financial records represents the latest setback to efforts by the US House to compel information from the President and White House officials. House general counsel Douglas Letter told the justices in a written filing that lawmakers had been exploring conflicts of interest, including “whether any foreign actors have financial leverage over President Trump and whether legislative reforms are necessary to address these risks.” Current legal battles find a Democratic-led House pursuing a Republican president, but the contours of the law are being shaped for what might come irrespective of which political party controls Congress and the White House. The pending cases centered on Trump’s financial records are only the most prominent of lawsuits arising from efforts by the President and his top aides to fight House committee demands for documents or testimony. Judge Judith Rogers, who dissented from the 2-1 panel decision favoring the Trump administration, asserted that the panel majority removes “any incentive for the Executive Branch to engage in the negotiation process regarding accommodation, all but assures future Presidential stonewalling of Congress, and further impairs the House’s ability to perform its constitutional duties.” When the full DC Circuit agreed to hear the McGahn case anew, it voided the panel’s ruling. As House lawyers told the justices, his financial interests around the world “pose both perceived and actual conflicts of interest.” “To determine whether and how to update ethics and conflict-of-interest laws to account for these changed circumstances,” House lawyers insist, committee members “must obtain information about President Trump’s financial arrangements and the completeness of his disclosures.” Trump’s personal lawyer, William Consovoy, backed by the Department of Justice, describes the requests as politically motivated and legally invalid.