Albany closes a loophole for Trump pardons, next up: His taxes

The bill, which has already passed the state Senate and has the support of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would exempt the state’s so-called double jeopardy law from cases involving presidential pardons, something supporters say is necessary to stave off a possible abuse of Trump’s pardon power.

On Wednesday, the Legislature — controlled by Democrats — is expected to pass a separate bill that would allow three congressional committees to seek Trump’s state tax returns; that bill also has the support of Cuomo, a Democrat in his third term.

The legislative efforts may prove a viable way to circumvent the White House’s stonewalling of attempts by the House of Representatives to investigate behavior of the Republican president and his subordinates. On Tuesday, Don McGahn, the former White House counsel, ignored a House subpoena to testify on attempts to obstruct the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

Paul Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman, is perhaps the most prominent Trump associate to be convicted and for whom a presidential pardon is considered a possibility. In March, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Manafort with mortgage fraud and more than a dozen other state felonies; in 2018, Manafort was convicted of a raft of federal charges including tax fraud and bank fraud.

Like about two dozen other states, New York has forbidden state prosecutions on similar charges after a federal pardon, something that the new bill will change, according to Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor who is the sponsor in that chamber.

“Either in the past or in a continuing manner, the president has talked about using the pardon power in a corrupt way to undermine the rule of law,” Kaminsky said. “And I think New York doesn’t have to sit by and let the capricious use of the pardon power tie its hands.”

Republican lawmakers and leaders in New York have called the efforts “bills of attainder,” aimed at a single person, and attacked them again Tuesday.

“We’re asked to set aside that fundamental concept of fairness and equity, not because we’re faced with any actual situation, but a hypothetical situation,” said Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown.

That argument was echoed by the outgoing state Republican Party chairman, Edward F. Cox, who said that the state Legislature was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“They should be focusing on people in New York state, and what they need,” Cox said.

Republican ire was likely to be raised on Wednesday, too, as both the Assembly and the Senate planned to pass the bill creating a pathway for Congress to seek Trump’s state tax returns, which are likely to contain much of the same financial information as the president’s contested federal returns. New York is the president’s home state and the headquarters of his business.

Efforts to obtain Trump’s federal tax returns have been repeatedly thwarted by the president’s refusals to release them, citing pending audits. That intransigence hit new heights in recent months, as the White House has defied congressional subpoenas and has said that Democrats will “never” see his returns.

The White House had no immediate comment on the New York bills.

In remarks on the chamber floor before the vote, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn, called passage of the double jeopardy bill a victory for states’ rights amid federal defiance.

“It has to do with presidential power, period,” Lentol said, adding, “This new law will confront any president, not just this one, who thinks that he or she can get away with washing away illegal behavior.”

Neither of the two bills specifically mentions Trump, though lawmakers have not been shy about their intentions to pursue the president’s financial information. There have also been efforts to avoid legal challenges, including several recent amendments to narrow the state tax bill’s focus to public officials, employees or officials in the federal executive branch, as well as other holders of government posts and political party leaders.

Sen. Brad Hoylman, the sponsor of the tax-related bill, said New York “has clear authority to pass such legislation,” casting it as an effort to assist congressional oversight of the president.

“It’s possible Congress will acquire Trump’s tax returns on their own,” Hoylman said. “But I’d like to think that the state of New York is doing its part.”

After the vote on the double jeopardy bill, state Attorney General Letitia James thanked Lentol and Kaminsky in a news conference at her office in Albany. James, a Democrat whose predecessor, Eric Schneiderman, had initially floated closing the loophole, denied that the Legislature’s action was a politically motivated attack on the Trump administration.

“They are using pardons as a means of obtaining one’s loyalty,” James said. “And that is an abuse, as far as I’m concerned.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.