Top House Republicans on Thursday slammed the Supreme Court after it allowed New York State prosecutors to access President Trump’s tax returns in a criminal probe.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, and one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, said the ruling gives Democrats more fuel for partisan attacks on the president.
“For almost four years, Democrats have been singularly focused on attacking President Trump for political gain. Today’s decisions by the Supreme Court sadly will not end the Democrats’ partisan obsession. Americans around the country deserve better than the Democrats’ never-ending political games,” the Ohio Republican said in a statement.
But Republicans did credit the Supreme Court handing the president a partial win by shielding his financial records from House Democrats’ investigations. The high court’s decision sent that issue back to the lower courts.
Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, which issued the subpoena for Mr. Trump’s family financial records. He said the high court’s ruling halts what amounted to a partisan fishing expedition.
“The Court recognized what Republicans have said all along: This was a partisan fishing expedition. The Court recognized Chairwoman Waters’ subpoena is unnecessarily broad and covers an extraordinary amount of personal information — including medical information and records related to the President’s young son and grandchildren — that could not possibly be relevant to any legislation.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said the ruling halted what amounted to Democrats’ “efforts to pry” into Mr. Trump’s life.
“For nearly two years, House Democrats have used every last ounce of their power to try to down this president,” he said. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling sticks a fork in their efforts to pry into the president’s personal life and makes plain what we have known for years — that the Democrats abused their power on their failed quest to destroy the president.”
“With today’s ruling, the House can finally get back to helping the American people recover from the coronavirus crisis and stop wasting time and money on political escapades that help no Americans but serve solely to help Democrats maintain their grip on power,” he continued.
