Prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Trump’s last effort to keep the records private, said a spokesman for the prosecutor.
The millions of pages of documents, the sources say, contain Trump tax returns from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, commitment agreements, documents related to the preparation and review of tax returns and working papers and communications related to tax returns.
Although the documents delivered by Trump’s long-standing accounting firm Mazars are not released to the public because they are subject to grand jury secrecy rules, their delivery ends an extraordinary 17-month search by the former president and his lawyers for prevent investigators from obtaining the records.
With the records now in hand, Vance and his fellow prosecutors will be able to delve into investigative theories, conduct interviews with key witnesses and determine whether they believe any state law has been violated.
“Our office obtained the records on Monday,” said Vance spokesman Danny Frost.
The Mazars spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Records can be essential to the investigation because they are likely to contain documents that reflect the decision making behind tax assessments and reductions, which can be important in determining whether there was an intention to commit a crime. The investigators wanted to review the documents before calling the main witnesses before the grand jury, people familiar with the investigation said.
In addition to Mazars’ records, Vance’s office has been looking for a number of other documents. They subpoenaed records and interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank, one of Trump’s lenders, about loans granted to him, and insurance broker Aon, according to several sources familiar with the investigation. Deutsche Bank lent Trump more than $ 300 million.
Prosecutors also subpoenaed Ladder Capital, which lent the Trump Organization more than $ 100 million, and the Trump Organization for records related to fees paid to consultants, including Ivanka Trump, these people said.
This was updated with a statement from Vance’s office.