WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is challenging a federal judge’s decision to allow a case to go forward that accuses President Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.
Justice Department lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead.
They filed papers Monday seeking to move the case from federal court in D.C. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. They also want to stop subpoena requests seeking Trump’s business tax returns, and documents from Trump’s D.C. and New York hotels, Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump Tower.
Justice Department lawyers said answering 37 subpoena requests by July 29 would cause Trump irreparable injury.
The lawsuit was brought by nearly 200 congressional Democrats. It alleges Trump is violating the Constitution by accepting foreign government spending at his Washington hotel.
