from CNBC,
10/11/19:
“We are reviewing the opinion and evaluating all appellate options,” Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said.
The 2-1 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Trump’s bid to block the committee from getting eight years’ worth of his financial records from the accounting firm Mazars USA.
“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 majority opinion.
“We conclude that in issuing the challenged subpoena, the Committee was engaged in a ‘legitimate legislative investigation,’ ” wrote Tatel, who was joined by Judge Patricia Millett in the majority decision.
Tatel was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton; Millett was appointed by President Barack Obama.
The dissenting opinion came from Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Trump.
In her dissent, Rao said: “Investigations of impeachable offenses simply are not, and never have been, within Congress’s legislative power.”
“Throughout our history, Congress, the President, and the courts have insisted upon maintaining the separation between the legislative and impeachment powers of the House and recognized the gravity and accountability that follow impeachment,” Rao wrote.
“Allowing the Committee to issue this subpoena for legislative purposes would turn Congress into a roving inquisition over a co-equal branch of government.”
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