New York - 22 February 2021

++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++

++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Graetz, Columbia Law School:

"Well, there's an awful lot of information that Vance (New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.) and the grand jury will receive. They're not only getting the tax returns, they're also getting the accountants work papers. They're getting the engagement letters: that is what did Trump asked them to do  and under what circumstances. They're getting eight years of returns and all of that other information. Now, of course, the rub is that you and I are not likely to learn anything from it because grand jury material and testimony is secret and only if Trump is indicted will we find out more about what the grand jury has learned."

++WHITE FLASH++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Graetz, Columbia Law School:

"I do think, I do think it's important that Vance has wanted this information, that he's now taken it to the Supreme Court twice and that Trump has not wanted him to have this information and he's tried to block it all the way through to the Supreme Court twice. So, you know, one expects that this is just another small chapter in what's going to be a fairly long unfolding story."

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4312437

In a significant defeat for former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court has declined to step in to halt the turnover of his tax records to a New York state prosecutor.

The court's action Monday is the apparent culmination of a lengthy legal battle that had already reached the high court once before.

Trump's tax records are not supposed to become public as part of prosecutors' criminal investigation.

But the high court's action is a blow to Trump because he has long fought to keep his tax records shielded.

Michael Graetz, of Columbia Law School, said the documents won't be limited to just tax returns, but that they're also getting the accountants work papers and engagement letters.

"I do think it's important that Vance (New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.) has wanted this information, that he's now taken it to the Supreme Court twice and that Trump has not wanted him to have this information and he's tried to block it all the way through to the Supreme Court twice," said Graetz.

Graetz said it's unlikely the public with ever know what is in the papers, unless Trump gets indicted.

The ongoing investigation that the records are part of could also become an issue for Trump in his life after the presidency.

Trump has called the probe a "fishing expedition" and "witch hunt."