Judge blocks California attempt to get Trump’s tax returns

A federal judge in California on Thursday issued a temporary injunction against a state law that required presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the state’s primary ballot.

President Trump’s lawyers had challenged the law, which was signed into law by California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Federal Judge Morrison England Jr., a George W. Bush appointee on the US District Court for the Eastern District of California, said there would be “irreparable harm without temporary relief” for Trump and other candidates without the injunction, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Golden State officials were likely to appeal the ruling.

Trump sued in August to block the California law, with his attorneys arguing that it would unfairly force the president to give up his right of privacy to be able to participate in the March 2 statewide primary.

Trump has refused to release his personal tax returns, the only president in decades to keep them secret from the American public.

The Manhattan DA’s office has issued subpoenas for his returns, as well as those from the Trump Organization.

But the president filed a lawsuit against the office Thursday to fight the subpoenas.