Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…
Today’s news, the tl;dr version:
— NY subpoenaed Trump’s tax returns via his accountants because there’s ample cause to believe Trump has committed a spectacular array of financial crimes.
— Trump sued in federal court to block NY from executing the subpoenas. The Department of Justice also filed in support of Trump, which raised eyebrows because they have zero dogs in this hunt.
— The district court, this morning, dismissed Trump’s suit, and issued a 75-page opinion to explain why. Since the court’s straightforward basis for denying Trump was the abstention doctrine (i.e., a court should decline jurisdiction where another court has greater jurisdiction), I’m real curious what Judge Marrero spent 75 pages discussing, because he probably could have disposed of Trump’s suit in under 10 pages. One article I read suggests that he used the term “repugnant,” though, so I’m looking forward to reading (perhaps with a glass of pinot grigio in a candle-lit hot bath… ahhhh.)
— Trump appealed and asked for a stay while the issue is appealed to the Second Circuit (expected). The court granted the stay (also expected) pending resolution of the appeal, so probably a month before there’s more movement on this.
Meanwhile, the Great and Powerful Oz has sold out the Kurds after gaining numerous concessions from them, and is now bellowing empty threats on Twitter to make believe that’s not what just happened.
