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MORE: On Trump's taxes, here's where it gets interesting

By Jennifer Rodgers
Updated 3:42 PM ET, Sat February 27, 2021

(CNN) - Few things are certain in life, other than death -- and that Donald Trump's tax returns would inevitably be released.

On Monday, the Supreme Court finally ended the long legal saga over them with a one-sentence order .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-trump-tax-returns/2021/02/22/05053b14-751c-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html .. that will allow Manhattan prosecutors to obtain Trump's returns and related documents from the Trump Organization. These had been subpoenaed back in 2019; Trump's lawsuit to conceal them always seemed more about delay than meritorious legal issues.

This information will likely be in the hands of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and his team for their grand jury investigation within the next few days.

And now things will get interesting. While Trump's lawyers have repeatedly tried to characterize the DA's probe as being just about hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the lead-up to the 2016 election, Vance's office has long maintained that it is investigating much more than that.

Manhattan investigators are likely focused on bank loans, insurance applications and other kinds of financial transactions related to Trump-owned properties to determine whether he or his companies violated any state laws. They are reportedly looking at the conduct of the former president, as well as the Trump Organization and certain of its other top executives.

Vance's team has not been twiddling its thumbs while waiting for the court to clear the way for Trump's accountants to hand over the documents. Vance added forensic investigators to the team and earlier this month swore in a highly experienced former federal prosecutor. Subpoenas have been issued, investigatory leads have been followed and witnesses have been interviewed.

One of them, Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, has been interviewed at least four times, including as recently as Thursday, according to news reports. And the pace of the investigation will only accelerate now.

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-vance/index.html