The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has issued a subpoena for eight years of President Donald Trump’s tax returns, according to CNBC on Monday.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. sent the subpoena a month ago to Mazars USA, the accounting firm of Trump and the Trump Organization, according to CNBC. Vance has been investigating hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
Michael Cohen, lawyer to President Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2018, in part for arranging payments to Daniels and former Playboy star Karen McDougal, as CNN reported at the time.
CNBC states that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in 2016 and was reimbursed by Trump and the Trump Organization.
Vance is investigating whether the hush-money payments were a violation of New York state law as well as federal law, according to the National Review.
According to The Hill, Trump is the first president in decades to refuse to release his tax returns. House Democrats, including members of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committee have sought through various lawsuits and subpoenas to get access to the president’s tax returns.
CNBC reports that it is not clear whether Vance and the district attorney’s office have received any of the subpoenaed tax returns yet.
“We are evaluating and will respond as appropriate,” a lawyer for the Trump Organization, Marc Mukasey, told CNBC.
Meanwhile, Mazars USA said in an emailed statement to CNBC, “Mazars USA will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.”