One of Donald Trump’s personal lawyers has argued to judges that the president cannot be investigated by local authorities while he is in office, even if he murdered someone on Fifth Avenue in New York.
William Consovoy, a personal attorney for Trump, tried to convince judges during a trial on Wednesday that Trump can reject a subpoena for his tax returns on grounds of presidential immunity.
The trial took place in a federal appeals court in New York City, where judges heard arguments from Trump’s lawyers and New York prosecutors. A Manhattan district attorney subpoenaed eight years of Trump’s tax returns in September.
Despite promises made during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has not released his tax information, making him the first president to fail to do so in nearly 40 years.
Consovoy told judges that New York’s local prosecutors had partisan intentions to embarrass the president when issuing the subpoena. He argued there was precedent to the idea that, while a president is not immune from prosecution in federal court, “local pressures” on a president may be different.
Judge Denny Chin pushed him on that claim, referencing a statement Trump made in the midst of the 2016 election about the staunch loyalty of his supporters. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” Trump said.
Chin asked Consovoy: “What’s your view on the Fifth Avenue example? Local authorities couldn’t investigate? They couldn’t do anything about it?”
“I think once a president is removed from office, any local authority – this is not a permanent immunity,” Consovoy said in response.
“Well, I’m talking about while in office. That’s the hypo[thetical]. Nothing could be done? That is your position?” Chin pressed further.
“That is correct,” Consovoy said.
The case over Trump’s tax returns is likely to make its way up to the supreme court. Trump’s lawyers and New York prosecutors struck a agreement that says if Trump loses Wednesday’s battle in the court of appeals, his lawyers will take no more than 10 days to petition to the supreme court.