<p>Manhattan's district attorney said on Monday he could have grounds to investigate President Donald Trump and his businesses for tax fraud, as he seeks to persuade a federal appeals court to let him enforce a subpoena for Trump's tax returns.</p>.<p>Lawyers for District Attorney Cyrus Vance made the assertion in a filing with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, four days before it considers Trump's request to block the August 2019 subpoena to his accounting firm Mazars USA.</p>.<p>The lawyers said the "mountainous" public allegations of misconduct, including misstatements about business properties, could justify a grand jury probe into possible tax fraud, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.</p>.<p>"Even if the grand jury were testing the truth of public allegations alone, such reports, taken together, fully justify the scope of the grand jury subpoena," Vance's lawyers wrote.</p>.<p>Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment on the filing.</p>.<p>Vance had previously said his subpoena also related to "possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct" at the president's business, the Trump Organization, including possible insurance and bank fraud.</p>.<p>Trump, a Republican, has said the subpoena from Vance, a Democrat, for eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns in connection with a criminal probe into his businesses was "wildly overbroad" and issued in bad faith to harass him.</p>.<p>The president made that argument after the US Supreme Court in July rejected his earlier claim of immunity from criminal investigations while in the White House.</p>.<p>Trump is now appealing US District Judge Victor Marrero's Aug. 20 ruling allowing the subpoena's enforcement.</p>.<p>Oral arguments are set for Sept. 25 before a panel of three judges, all appointed by Democratic presidents.</p>.<p>Though the appeal was fast-tracked, it is unlikely the public will know what's in Trump's tax returns before the Nov. 3 election.</p>
<p>Manhattan's district attorney said on Monday he could have grounds to investigate President Donald Trump and his businesses for tax fraud, as he seeks to persuade a federal appeals court to let him enforce a subpoena for Trump's tax returns.</p>.<p>Lawyers for District Attorney Cyrus Vance made the assertion in a filing with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, four days before it considers Trump's request to block the August 2019 subpoena to his accounting firm Mazars USA.</p>.<p>The lawyers said the "mountainous" public allegations of misconduct, including misstatements about business properties, could justify a grand jury probe into possible tax fraud, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.</p>.<p>"Even if the grand jury were testing the truth of public allegations alone, such reports, taken together, fully justify the scope of the grand jury subpoena," Vance's lawyers wrote.</p>.<p>Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment on the filing.</p>.<p>Vance had previously said his subpoena also related to "possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct" at the president's business, the Trump Organization, including possible insurance and bank fraud.</p>.<p>Trump, a Republican, has said the subpoena from Vance, a Democrat, for eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns in connection with a criminal probe into his businesses was "wildly overbroad" and issued in bad faith to harass him.</p>.<p>The president made that argument after the US Supreme Court in July rejected his earlier claim of immunity from criminal investigations while in the White House.</p>.<p>Trump is now appealing US District Judge Victor Marrero's Aug. 20 ruling allowing the subpoena's enforcement.</p>.<p>Oral arguments are set for Sept. 25 before a panel of three judges, all appointed by Democratic presidents.</p>.<p>Though the appeal was fast-tracked, it is unlikely the public will know what's in Trump's tax returns before the Nov. 3 election.</p>