Rep. Jim Jordan: SCOTUS 'punted' on Trump tax returns, opened door for audit by 'political hacks'
The Ohio congressman said the basis for Democratic subpoenas is 'concerning'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Supreme Court "punted" in its decision to block Congress from obtaining President Trump's tax records and send the case back to the district courts, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Thursday.
In an interview on "America's Newsroom," Jordan told host Sandra Smith that the ruling opened the door for the president to be "audited by political hacks on the Democrat side of the ledger."
SUPREME COURT PUNTS, DENIES TRUMP IMMUNITY BUT BLOCKS HOUSE DEMS FROM TAX DOCS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"So, that’s a real concern," he said.
In addition, the justices ruled that the president is not immune from a subpoena over his financial and tax records to liberal Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. – also throwing the issue back to lower courts. Both rulings were 7-2.
Vance had subpoenaed Trump's records in September as part of a criminal investigation into potential wrongdoing by the president and his organization.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump was notably displeased with the high court, tweeting: "The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue. This is all a political prosecution. I won the Mueller Witch Hunt, and others, and now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!"
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts answers questions during an appearance at Belmont University Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
According to reporting from Fox News' Bill Mears, the moves were "vintage Chief Justice Roberts." As the November presidential election looms, Roberts has managed to navigate around a host of politically charged and partisan disputes.
"President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need," Roberts wrote in the court's majority opinion in the New York case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The court limited its ruling and the arguments before it to whether Trump has "absolute immunity" and state prosecutors are required to show a "heightened standard" in order to obtain documents as part of investigations into a president.
The three Democratic-led House Committees leading the charge separate from Vance argue that the president's records are necessary to check his financial disclosures and inform whether conflict-of-interest laws are tough enough.
Their subpoenas came following testimony from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who told lawmakers that Trump had exaggerated his wealth to seek loans. Cohen is now serving a three-year prison term for tax evasion, bank fraud and lying to Congress.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Remember Michael Cohen was under oath that day, and Michael Cohen lied seven times," Jordan said. "We actually referred him to the Justice Department for the fact that he wasn’t honest and truthful. So, many statements he made were false during that testimony. So, if that was the basis of the Democrats, I find that somewhat concerning.
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"But, overall on the congressional case – the three committees [that] wanted to get access to these business records and President Trump's financial records, it looks like the [Supreme Court] said they’re going to punt on that and…order the lower courts to kind of do this again. So, we’ll just have to wait and see as we move forward," he concluded.
Fox News' Bill Mears, Tyler Olson, Ronn Blitzer, John Roberts, and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.