The cases decided Thursday stemmed from investigations into Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and by the House of Representatives. Vance had the best day at the court he could possibly have had: The only issue in his case, whether Trump as a sitting president is wholly shielded from Vance’s investigation, was rejected by the court — full stop. Along the way, all nine justices rejected Trump’s main argument: that the Constitution offers a sitting president an impenetrable shield from state investigators. Yes, there are more arguments to be made back in the lower courts, but that was always going to be the case. This was a clean and total win for Vance and a devastating loss for Trump, not just of the case but of his anti-democratic conception of the American presidency....
All of that raises the question: what now? Judges should ensure that these cases move quickly back in the lower courts. The big question has now been answered by the nation’s highest court: There is no wholesale shield available to Trump. The questions left are comparative smaller ones. Indeed, in the Vance case, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s majority opinion specifies exactly what those questions are, such as whether the particular subpoena issued by Vance is overly broad, issued in bad faith or in some subpoena-specific way unconstitutional; and it’s now a responsibility of the lower courts to hear arguments on them, then rule, swiftly. Even in the House cases, all that’s left is for lower courts to apply a standard that’s now been clearly articulated by the Supreme Court. The end result, the ruling seems to make clear, should be that the House gets at least some of the financial records it’s seeking.
The trial judge in the Vance case, Victor Marrero, has already proved he can move fast — Trump filed his last complaint about Vance’s subpoena Sept. 19, 2019, and Marrero rejected it in an exhaustive opinion just three weeks later. Given the thinness of the remaining arguments, this round should move even more quickly. And in all of these cases, the Supreme Court would be within its traditional role to stay out going forward, which means there needn’t be lengthy appeals all the way back to the justices: They have answered the hard questions, and now the lower courts should be left to fill in the easier gaps left. The grand jury process could also move very fast — the information can be delivered to the grand jury with action on indictments very quickly, even in a matter of days or weeks, not months. In Watergate, the time from the break-in to the first grand jury indictment was just three months; in Iran-contra, it was four months from the U.S. Customs information being received to indictment; and in Enron, it was four months from bankruptcy to Arthur Andersen’s indictment. The federal courts resolved all of President Richard Nixon’s subpoena challenges within a few months, and they resolved the 2000 election within 36 days. The Vance case has already dragged on for years, but now, because of the Supreme Court’s decision, it can and should move very fast. With a looming election, the need to move quickly rather than at Trump’s preferred “all deliberate speed” is overwhelming. The American people shouldn’t have to vote for someone who very well may be indicted and face criminal process right after the election....
And that’s just about the election. Whatever the particular timing, Trump’s bad day at the court Thursday is an omen of even worse days ahead for him personally. In New York, Vance and his team of state prosecutors have more arguments they must make in the lower courts to obtain Trump’s financial records, but in the end, they should be getting the papers — and their overall investigation is moving forward. In Washington, the House will need to describe to lower courts its justification for seeking Trump’s records based on the court’s newly articulated standard, but in the end at least some of the House committees will meet that standard for at least some of the records — easily...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/09/trump-loses-supreme-court/
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