President Trump, his three eldest children and his private company filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against Deutsche Bank and Capital One, in a bid to prevent the banks from responding to congressional subpoenas.
The New York Times reports that the suit alleges that the subpoenas “have no legitimate or lawful purpose” and were issued “harass” Trump and “to rummage through every aspect of [Trump’s] personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage.”
The Business Insider reports Deutsche Bank informed Trump on April 17 that it had received Congress’ subpoenas, which seek “records and/or information relating to banking activities, including information regarding accounts, financings, and related financial information” for the plaintiffs, the filing said. The bank was preparing to turn over the information to lawmakers by May 6.
The court filing said the congressional subpoena sought the records and financial information related to Trump’s and his business’ “parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, divisions, partnerships, properties, groups, special purpose entities, joint ventures, predecessors, successors or any other entity in which they have or had a controlling interest.”
The Financial Times says that Deutsche Bank and Capital One did not immediately return emails seeking comment late on Monday evening. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by Mr Trump to frustrate efforts by Democrats to dig into his personal affairs. He has also sued his accounting firm and the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee. Maxine Waters, chair of the House financial services committee, and Adam Schiff, who chairs the House intelligence committee, said in a joint statement the lawsuit was “meritless”. “This lawsuit is not designed to succeed; it is only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible,” they said.
