Trump's accounting firm emerges as the most unlikely hero of democracy
Trump’s accounting firm emerges as the most unlikely hero of democracy
Time is no longer on Trump's side.
Ian Millhiser
May 10, 2019, 12:38 pm
snip//
To explain, various House committees seek documents that will reveal Trump’s finances, and potentially expose conflicts of interest that influence how Trump governs. One of these committees is the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which subpoenaed Mazars — Trump’s accounting firm — seeking “documents and information relating to the firm’s preparation, review, and auditing of financial statements for Trump and his business entities.”
The purpose of this inquiry, according to the committee, is to examine “several specific instances where President Trump’s reporting of assets and liabilities materially differs from what was subsequently reported in his required financial disclosure filings submitted as a candidate for office and as a federal official,” and to determine whether new legislation is needed “to expand the scope, penalties, and periods covered by financial disclosure laws” and augment “criminal laws governing the reporting of financial information to financial institutions.”
Mazars, for its part, offered only token resistance to this subpoena. Before the subpoena was issued, the committee asked Mazars if it would voluntarily turn over Trump’s financial documents. Mazars responded with a very brief letter explaining that it could not do so because of various laws and regulations that prohibit “disclosure of confidential client information without client consent or receipt of a validly issued and enforceable subpoena.”
The committee took the hint, and issued such a subpoena.
Since then, Mazars has declared its neutrality in the dispute between Trump and Congress. In a document filed in the Trump litigation, the accounting firm explained that “the dispute in this action is between Plaintiffs and the Committee,” and that “Mazars USA takes no position on the legal issues raised by Plaintiffs, and requests no time for oral argument before the Court.”
Mazars’ neutrality is a big deal. If the documents Congress seeks were solely in Trump’s possession, then Trump could deploy every possible obstructive tactic to keep Congress from obtaining those documents — and he would succeed until Congress obtained a court order requiring him to comply. Even after Congress obtained such an order, it likely would not be able to enforce the order until Trump exhausts his appeals.
But Mazars appears to have no interest in joining Trump’s resistance to the subpoena. To the contrary, its stated neutrality suggests that it will comply with the subpoena unless a court affirmatively orders them not to do so. Mazars’ neutrality, in other words, reverses the balance of power between Trump and Congress. Instead of being able to run out the clock, Trump now has to obtain a court order preventing Mazars from complying.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-mazars-usa-house-oversight-subpoena-844a0fe30423/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I wonder if Trump is up to date paying his accounting bills. 
The accountants can't authorize any bill-paying because Trump has no money.
an independent professional body. This is such uplifting news. Well done.
That Senate republicans can't do the same.
"Mazars’ neutrality, in other words, reverses the balance of power between Trump and Congress. Instead of being able to run out the clock, Trump now has to obtain a court order preventing Mazars from complying."
BRING IT
So there is no reason to resist, on Mazars' part. It's not involved in political resistance.
But this is good that the acctg firm is ready to produce the financial information.
What could be interesting is that the financial information may have been given to Mazars. So it wants nothing to do with whether that core information given to it is truthful.
Does that make me a 'hero of democracy' too?
Sadly, I think we've slid pretty far into a nihilist dystopia when a private company becomes a hero of democracy for deciding to COMPLY with a Congressional subpoena UNLESS a federal court says otherwise.
As for McGann deciding to blow off a Congressional subpoena, I think his punishment should START with being DISBARRED. Maybe politicians, kleptocrats and gangsters think following the law is just a suggestion, but hopefully legal professional certification bodies don't!
And the rest will take care of itself. The system isn't perfect by a long shot, but it is still the best one.
