On July 9, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Trump v. Vance reaffirming the centuries-old principle that “no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.” The lawsuit involved President Trump’s assertion that the Constitution gives a sitting President absolute immunity from any form of criminal process or investigation, and therefore prohibited enforcement of a New York grand jury subpoena to the President’s personal accounting firm for financial records relating to the President and business organizations affiliated with him.
The Supreme Court rejected that claim, holding that “the President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers,” nor is he “entitled to a heightened standard of need” to justify issuance of such subpoenas. The case has been remanded to the lower court.
Selendy & Gay served as co-counsel to Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney, with a team including Caitlin Halligan, Ryan Allison, David Coon and Vivek Tata.
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