Get 40% Off
🚨 Volatile Markets? Find Hidden Gems for Serious OutperformanceFind Stocks Now

Trump, House Democrats square off in U.S. court over Deutsche Bank documents

Published 05/22/2019, 07:28 AM
Updated 05/22/2019, 07:28 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Trump speaks at the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride event in the East Room of the White House in Washington

By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization will demand in court on Wednesday that a judge stop Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DBKGn) and Capital One Financial Corp (NYSE:COF) from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump's businesses.

Republican Trump, who is seeking re-election next year, has aggressively sought to defy congressional oversight of his administration since Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

Trump said last month that the administration was "fighting all the subpoenas" issued by the House, hardening his position after the release of a redacted report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller on how Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump and the president's attempts to impede the investigation.

The contents of the subpoenas have not been made public. Wednesday's hearing in federal court in Manhattan is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (1630 GMT).

Deutsche Bank has long been a principal lender for Trump's real estate business and a 2017 disclosure form showed that Trump had at least $130 million of liabilities to the bank.

In March, before issuing a subpoena, Democratic lawmakers asked Capital One for documents concerning potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump's Washington hotel and other business interests since he became president in January 2017.

Deutsche Bank and Capital One said in court filings on May 10 they are not taking a position on whether the subpoenas should be blocked.

Trump, his adult children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, and the Trump Organization are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Deutsche Bank complying with subpoenas from the House Financial Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, and Capital One from complying with a subpoena from the Financial Services Committee.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads .

In a lawsuit filed on April 29, lawyers for Trump, his children and the Trump Organization argued that the subpoenas were too broad, and that Democrats are hoping they will "stumble upon something" that could be used for political attacks on the president.

"The subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J. Trump, to rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family," the complaint said.

The banks are the only defendants in the case, but the House committees have intervened to oppose Trump's effort to block the subpoenas.

"We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will  abide by a court order regarding such investigations," Deutsche Bank said in a statement ahead of the hearing.

Capital One declined comment.

Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters after the lawsuit was filed that Trump had "cast a gauntlet." "We will fight him," she said.

Michael Stern, who served as senior House counsel from 1996 to 2004, said in an interview on Tuesday that Trump and the other plaintiffs faced an uphill battle. He said the judge was unlikely to look into the committee's motives in issuing a subpoena "as long as it might produce some information that's relevant to legislation."

On Monday, a federal judge in Washington ruled against the president in a similar case, finding that Trump's accounting firm, Mazars LLP, must comply with a congressional subpoena for Trump's financial records.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads .

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Congress was "not engaged in a fishing expedition for the President's financial records when it subpoenaed Mazars and said that documents obtained might assist Congress in passing laws and performing other core functions.

Trump called Mehta's decision "crazy" and "totally the wrong decision by obviously an Obama-appointed judge," referring to Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who was also appointed by Obama, is overseeing the New York case.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.