Prosecutors obtained the data Monday, according to a source, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Trump’s last-ditch effort to keep the data private.
The millions of pages of documents, according to sources, contain Trump’s tax returns spanning January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents related to the preparation and review of tax returns, and working papers and notices related to the tax refund.
While the documents handed over by Trump’s old accounting firm Mazars will not be released to the public as they are subject to grand jury nondisclosure rules, their delivery concludes an extraordinary 17-month quest by the former president and his lawyers to prevent that researchers request the data.
With the files now in hand, Vance and his fellow prosecutors will be able to dig deeper into investigative theories, pursue interviews with key witnesses, and determine whether they believe state laws have been violated.
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
The Mazars spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The data may be critical to the investigation because it likely contains documents that reflect the decision-making behind valuations and tax write-offs, which can be important in determining whether a crime was intended to be committed. The researchers wanted to review the documents before calling star witnesses to the grand jury, people familiar with the study said.
In addition to Mazars’ records, Vance’s office has searched a slew of other documents. They sued files and interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank, one of Trump’s creditors, about loans made to him, and insurance broker Aon, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. Deutsche Bank has lent Trump more than $ 300 million.
Prosecutors have also sued Ladder Capital, which the Trump Organization has borrowed more than $ 100 million, and the Trump Organization for files related to fees paid to consultants, including Ivanka Trump, these people said.
This story breaks and will be updated.