William Consovoy, Stefan Passantino Lead Trump Suit Fighting House Subpoena
The lawsuit marks the first time Trump has taken the House's Democratic majority to court in a bid to block enforcement of a congressional subpoena.
April 22, 2019 at 10:27 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
President Donald Trump, backed by Michael Best & Friedrich and Consovoy McCarthy Park, is going on the offensive to block a U.S. House Oversight Committee subpoena targeting the president's accountant.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, looks to head off a subpoena filed by U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which seeks financial statements, documents and communications from the president's longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP.
The lawsuit marks the first time Trump has taken the House's Democratic majority to court in a bid to block enforcement of a congressional subpoena. The litigation comes as House lawmakers have demanded, separately, copies of Trump's tax returns. U.S. Treasury officials have yet to produce those records. The deadline is Tuesday.
“There is no possible legislation at the end of this tunnel; indeed, the Chairman does not claim otherwise,” according to the lawsuit. “With this subpoena, the Oversight Committee is instead assuming the powers of the Department of Justice, investigating (dubious and partisan) allegations of illegal conduct by private individuals outside of government. Its goal is to expose Plaintiffs' private financial information for the sake of exposure, with the hope that it will turn up something that Democrats can use as a political tool against the President now and in the 2020 election.”
The lawsuit seeks declaratory judgment that Cummings' subpoena is unenforceable. It also seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting Mazars from producing the requested information.
Stefan Passantino of Michael Best & Friedrich represents the Trump Organization in the lawsuit. Passantino also represents other financial entities owned by Trump, including the Old Post Office LLC. Passantino, who led Dentons political law group before joining the Trump White House as deputy White House counsel, joined Michael Best in September.
Trump is represented by a team from Consovoy McCarthy Park, which includes law firm partners William Consovoy and Patrick Strawbridge, and associate Cameron Norris, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Consovoy and Strawbridge, who also clerked for Thomas, also represent Students for Fair Admissions in a lawsuit against Harvard for allegedly discriminating against Asian-Americans by setting a higher admissions bar for them.
Consovoy is also involved in a lawsuit seeking to undo mandatory bar fees in Texas. It is one of at least four lawsuits nationally challenging mandatory bar membership in the wake of two U.S. Supreme Court decisions last year impacting states' ability to require union or professional dues as a condition of employment.
Trump's lawsuit is posted below:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllDiscover Hires Interim Legal Chief as $35B Sale to Capital One Faces New Hurdles
The Reason a GC Abruptly Departs May Not Be What You Think
Greenberg Traurig Initiates String of Suits Following JPMorgan Chase's 'Infinite Money Glitch'
NY Antitrust Investigators Seek Subpoena in Probe of Potential Capital One-Discover Merger
Trending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Trump's Return to the White House: The Legal Industry Reacts
- 3Election 2024: Nationwide Judicial Races and Ballot Measures to Watch
- 4Climate Disputes, International Arbitration, and State Court Limitations for Global Issues
- 5Judicial Face-Off: Navigating the Ethical and Efficient Use of AI in Legal Practice [CLE Pending]
- 6How Much Does the Frequency of Retirement Withdrawals Matter?
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250