The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has sent President Donald Trump’s accounting firm a grand jury subpoena demanding eight years of Trump’s personal and corporate income tax returns as part of an ongoing investigation.
The subpoena was sent last month to the Mazars USA firm by DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office.
Vance is investigating issues related to hush money payoffs to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playbody model Karen McDougal, which were facilitated by Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Both women claim to have had sex with Trump years before the election. Trump has denied their allegations.
Vance is probing whether the Trump Organization falsified business records related to payoffs.
It is not clear if the DA has obtained any of tax returns he is seeking from Mazars, or whether Vance is now investigating issues beyond the hush money payments.
Trump has refused to publicly release his tax returns despite a long-standing practice by past presidents who did so.
The New York Times first reported the news of the subpoena. A person with direct knowledge of the matter soon after confirmed the subpoena was issued to NBC News.
Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, in an email to CNBC, said “We are evaluating and will respond as appropriate.”
Mazars USA, in an emailed statement, said, “Mazars USA will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.”
“We believe strongly in the ethical and professional rules and regulations that govern our industry, our work and our client interactions. As a matter of firm policy and professional rules we do not comment on the work we conduct for our clients,” the firm said.
The saga of Trump’s taxes
Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a respond to a request for comment.
Danny Frost, a spokesman for Vance, declined to comment.
Trump and his company reimbursed Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer, for the $130,000 payment he made to Daniels.
McDougal herself received $150,000 from the Trump-friendly publisher of The National Enquirer as part of a deal to keep her quiet about her allegations about Trump.
Cohen, who helped arrange the McDougal payoff, is cooperating with Vance’s probe.
Cohen currently is serving a three-year federal prison sentence for campaign finance violations related to the payoffs to Daniels and McDougal, as well as for lying to Congress about details of a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and financial crimes.
Investigators from Vance’s office visited Cohen recently at his prison in upstate New York.
