US Supreme Court to decide on release of Trump's tax records

WASHINGTON -- The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear President Donald Trump's appeal of lower court orders, now on hold, that require relative banks and an accounting firm to turn over the president's financial records to the Democrat-led House of Representatives and local prosecutors in New York.

The justices made it possible for them to be heard during the current court term, most likely in March, with a decision by the end of June, when the US general election campaign heats up, said an NBC News report.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled on Dec. 3 that Deutsche Bank and Capital One must comply with a subpoena from the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees demanding Trump's financial records as part of a congressional probe into the president's dealings with Deutsche Bank.

US media earlier reported that Deutsche Bank has lent Trump's businesses millions of dollars in the past years and Capital One is among the banks where Trump holds personal accounts.

The Second Circuit and the D.C. Circuit have both ruled that Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, must comply with separate subpoenas from Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance and House investigators.

On Nov. 18, US Chief Justice John Roberts said that the Supreme Court had issued a temporary stay of a federal appeals court ruling that granted the House Oversight and Reform Committee access to Trump's financial records between 2011 and 2018 from Mazars USA.

The panel issued the subpoena to Mazars USA in April after former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen had testified that "Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes."

Trump's legal team has argued that if the lower court rulings are allowed to stand, any committee of Congress could subpoena any personal information it wants from a president.

The Supreme Court currently has five conservatives and four liberals.