Judge sets Trump lawsuit over congressional subpoenas on track for quick decision

A judge in Washington, D.C., on Thursday said he is fast-tracking to trial the legal fight over whether to temporarily block a congressional subpoena issued for President Trump’s financial records.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in the order that he has received full briefs on whether the House Oversight and Reform Committee has the authority to issue the subpoena to the accounting firm Mazars, “and the court can discern no benefit from an additional round of legal arguments.”

{mosads}“Nor is there an obvious need to delay ruling on the merits to allow for development of the factual record,” Mehta, an Obama nominee, wrote.

The judge gave both parties until May 13 to submit filings stating support or opposition to his decision. A hearing is schedule for May 14.

Mehta’s ruling means there could be an expedited decision on whether the accounting firm can hand over the financial documents on Trump and his private businesses.

Trump and his businesses had initially filed the lawsuit last month against House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to try to squash a subpoena he issued to Mazars, seeking years of financial records.

The entire House Oversight and Reform Committee has since taken over Cummings’s role in the lawsuit, and attorneys for House Democrats are arguing in the case.

The president and his businesses, as well as members of his family, have filed a similar lawsuit to try to block congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One.

Those subpoenas were issued by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Trump’s attorneys have argued that House Democrats don’t have the authority to seek the financial records. But the lawmakers have said the requests for the documents are legal.