WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal appeals court on Monday granted President Donald Trump a reprieve in his effort to prevent his tax records from being released, delaying the enforcement of a federal judge's ruling announced earlier in the day which demanded that the president's accounting firm hand in his financial documents.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York issued an emergency stay to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who rejected Trump's court filings in September to block a subpoena requesting his personal and corporate tax returns records.
Marrero's ruling would otherwise have been effective Monday afternoon.
Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, said the president's legal team "are very pleased" by the appeals court's decision.
Trump filed a lawsuit on Sept. 19 in an effort to keep his tax returns secret. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Mazars USA, Trump's longtime accounting firm.
The District Court rejected Trump's view, as was claimed in his lawsuit, that "virtually all legal commenters agree that a sitting president of the United States is not subject to the criminal process while he is in office."
In tossing out the president's lawsuit, Marrero, a senior judge at the District Court, issued a decision saying such immunity would temporarily "frustrate the administration of justice by insulating from criminal law scrutiny and judicial review."
"This Court cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process," wrote Marrero. "Hence, the expansive notion of constitutional immunity invoked here to shield the President from judicial process would constitute an overreach of executive power."
Trump's legal action followed a subpoena sent in August by Vance's office to Mazars USA, requesting eight years of the president's state and federal tax returns. The firm said in a statement issued Sept. 16 it "will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations."
Vance, a Democrat, also subpoenaed the Trump Organization for records related to the hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. The payment was arranged by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
In addition, Vance has been pursuing a mortgage fraud case against Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman.
In what seemed to be a response to the District Court's ruling, Trump claimed it is the Democrats that have been pushing for the prosecution against him.
"The Radical Left Democrats have failed on all fronts, so now they are pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump," he tweeted. "A thing like this has never happened to any President before. Not even close!"
Trump told reporters outside the White House on Sept. 9 that he would release a report detailing his financial holdings before Election Day, which falls on Nov. 3, 2020. He, however, didn't respond to reporters' asking whether he would disclose his tax returns.
