Merrick Garland, Obama’s Denied Supreme Court Pick, Could Rule On Whether To Release Trump’s Financial Records

Merrick Garland, whom Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Court in 2016 but was rejected by Senate Republicans, hasn’t been making any major news lately, but now he could become a key player in an appeal involving President Donald Trump. 

Garland could rule on the appeal Trump’s lawyers filed to counter a federal judge’s decision to allow a congressional subpoena from the House Oversight Committee for his financial documents dating back to 2011 to proceed.

Garland, a D.C. Circuit Court judge, was known as a judicial figure who was widely praised by both Democrats and Republicans when Obama appointed him to the Supreme Court in 2016. However, GOP lawmakers led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the Senate majority leader, refused to confirm him as a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February of that year. Garland did not even receive a hearing, as McConnell blocked him from all consideration for the role.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta penned a 41-page opinion that Trump’s legal team’s arguments in their appeal had “fundamental” issues.

“It is simply not fathomable that a Constitution that grants Congress the power to remove a president for reasons including criminal behavior would deny Congress the power to investigate him for unlawful conduct,” Mehta wrote.

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Deutsche Bank and Capital One are the two banks involved in the subpoenas, as the pair of institutions are where Trump holds many personal or business accounts. The House Oversight Committee said it was seeking to determine whether or not the president violated the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits U.S. federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments.