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Judge to hear suit over Trump financial records demand

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is set to hold a hearing Tuesday on President Donald Trump’s attempt to block a House subpoena seeking his financial records.

Trump and his business organization sued the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee to block the subpoena. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, said the subpoena from Rep. Elijah Cummings “has no legitimate legislative purpose” and accuses Democrats of harassing Trump and wielding their new majority in Congress to try to stain the president’s standing.

Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, issued the subpoena in April to Mazars USA, an accountant for the president and Trump Organization. The question for the judge overseeing the case, Amit Mehta, is whether the House’s subpoena is a valid exercise of legislative power. Mehta was nominated to his position by President Barack Obama.

In asking the judge to block the subpoena, Trump in essence asked the judicial branch to stop the legislative branch from investigating his past. Decades of precedent has established that the legislature’s investigative power is not limited to just researching possible legislation.

The lawsuit comes amid a widespread effort by the White House and the president’s attorneys to refuse to cooperate with congressional requests for information and records.

US-Iran conflict enters new phase as Saudi Arabia helps hit proxies and diplomacy stalls again

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stop-start fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia has publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies. At the same time, an already untenable diplomatic effort to end the war has faltered once again as mistrust deepens between the longtime adversaries. Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region — while little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward. While President Donald Trump and his allies have spent recent days arguing that Iran is begging to return to the negotiating table, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that his country has made no requests to restart the diplomatic track in more than two weeks. Following a thwarted attack on the U.S. base in Jordan, Trump turned back to threats Wednesday even while sustaining the prospect of continued talks.
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