The Supreme Court Looked to Wash Its Hands of Trump

Yesterday was a pretty devastating day for Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Trumpenfuhrer at this blog, and the day's disasters - at least from the Trump perspective - were delivered by the U.S Supreme Court in a series of actions that will allow Trump's tax returns to be accessed by the Manhattan district attorney and rejected additional lawsuits promoting Trump's big lie that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him.  Deliciously, in most of the Court's actions, Trump's three appointees failed to save his lying, misogynistic ass. One can only assume from Trump's desperate efforts to keep his tax returns secret, there must be something he hopes to hide.  What makes the Court's ruling rejecting Trump's position even more significant is that the district attorney can also access the underlying reports and information from which the tax returns were prepared.  With luck, Trump will be exposed for tax and mortgage fraud and the only government housing he will see in the future is a prison.  A piece at CNN looks at the Court's actions kicking Trump to the curb.  Here are article highlights:

Donald Trump took a drubbing at the Supreme Court on Monday, as the justices in a flurry of orders dealt critical blows to his efforts to shield his tax records from a New York prosecutor and his oft-repeated false claims that there was widespread voter fraud during the last election.

It's as if the justices, in one day, sought to wipe their hands of lingering issues that had been heralded by the former President in a cascade of tweets, legal filings and statements during the last months of his administration. 

The focus on Monday was not Trump administration policies, but instead disputes deeply personal to Trump himself: election 2020, his tax records and even allegations made by adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump lost badly in the election and tax returns cases, and the Supreme Court made clear it wanted nothing to do with the case brought by the adult-film actress. 

Trump's tweets likely played little role in the court's deliberations. But still, the justices witnessed Trump supporters storming the Capitol, across the street from their own headquarters. And although the Supreme Court was never breached, the building is now surrounded by high fences erected after the riot. 

The justices are still scheduled to hear challenges to actual Trump policies on issues such as immigration and abortion, but on Monday they refused to give credence to his claims of voter fraud, and they opened the door to legal complications down the road now that a New York prosecutor can continue his investigation. 

[W]ithout comment, the court denied six other appeals concerning the election, one brought by Trump's own lawyers.

 [W]ith no noted dissents, the subpoena can go forward thanks to Monday's order. Cyrus Vance, the New York prosecutor, issued a simple statement. "The work continues," he said. It was the move he needed to continue and even escalate his inquiry. 

Trump's lawyers can still formally ask the justices to take up their appeal. But the justices have dealt with the heart of the case by allowing the tax returns to go out, even if they are shielded by grand jury secrecy rules. When Consovoy asked the justices to freeze the subpoena, he told them that once the documents are surrendered, "confidentiality will be lost for all time." 

On Monday the justices also denied an appeal from Republicans in Pennsylvania challenging a state Supreme Court decision that allowed mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day to be counted in light of the pandemic.

Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas -- in his own fiery dissent -- did not agree with the court's order and said so. But Trump's two other appointees, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, remained publicly silent. It would have taken four justices to grant the case, and it appears neither voted in favor of the Republicans.

Without comment, the justices also rejected other election-related challenges from battleground states, including one brought by Trump's own lawyer. 

In that case, also challenging decisions by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Trump lawyer John Eastman told the justices in court papers that "collectively, these three decisions resulted in counting approximately 2.6 million mail ballots in violation of the law as enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature," he said. 

After the election, Trump spoke vehemently about election fraud even without success in the courts. On Monday, the Supreme Court's message was clear: We are staying out of the 2020 election.

Any day that is a bad day for Trump is a good day for America.