President Trump sued two banks on Monday to stop them from complying with subpoenas sent from the Democrat-led House Intelligence and Financial Services committees.
The federal lawsuit was filed in Manhattan by Trump, three of his children, and the Trump Organization, and targets both Deutsche Bank and Capital One. They allege the subpoenas were intended to “harass” Trump and only serve a political purpose.
“This case involves congressional subpoenas that have no legitimate or lawful purpose,” the lawsuit says. “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, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage. No grounds exist to establish any purpose other than a political one.”
House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions earlier this month to chase down Trump’s finances and personal information. Their committees are examining the president’s relationship with Deutsche Bank, which has lent Trump more than $2 billion over the years.
Specifically, investigators seek documents on the business the banks conducted with a series of suspected Russian and other Eastern European money launderers.
Court documents show Deutsche Bank was prepared to hand over information about Trump’s finances by May 6. A Deutsche Bank spokesperson said, “we remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations.”
[Also read: Omarosa: Trump team has ‘crazy list’ of ‘shocking proposals’ to distract from subpoena fight]
Waters and Schiff issued a joint statement that said they will not be intimidated.
“As a private businessman, Trump routinely used his well-known litigiousness and the threat of lawsuits to intimidate others, but he will find that Congress will not be deterred from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities,” they said. “This lawsuit is not designed to succeed; it is only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible.”
[Related: Post-Mueller report, Democrats to dig deeper into Trump finances with three investigations]
