Judge says Deutsche Bank must give Congress Donald Trump’s financial records

A federal judge has rejected a request by US President Donald Trump to block congressional subpoenas for his banking records, dealing the latest blow to the president in his bid to battle Democratic investigations into his personal finances. The decision in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York could clear the way for Deutsche Bank and Capital One to hand over the president’s financial records to Democrats in the House. Trump’s lawyers could appeal the decision. Lawyers for Trump, his family and the Trump Organisation filed for a preliminary injunction earlier this month as part of a lawsuit seeking to block the two institutions from handing over documents to the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees. “There will be no way to unring the bell once the banks give Congress the requested information,” William Consovoy, Patrick Strawbridge and Marc Mukasey wrote. “The committees will have reviewed confidential documents that this court may later determine were illegally subpoenaed.” But US District Judge Edgardo Ramos said Wednesday that Trump’s lawsuit was unlikely to succeed. Deutsche Bank said it would abide by the court’s decision. Capital One did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ruling comes two days after US District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington rejected the Trump legal team’s argument in a separate case seeking to block the House Oversight Committee’s demands for records from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA. Trump’s lawyers notified the judge on Tuesday that they have appealed “all aspects” of that ruling. 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. Ramos, the judge in the New York case, was also appointed by Obama. Why Nancy Pelosi is so good at infuriating Donald Trump House Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed Wednesday’s ruling, saying she was “very excited” by the news. “Two in one week: Mazar Monday, Deutsche Bank today,” she said. Deutsche Bank has been a major lender to both the Trump Organisation and Kushner Companies, which previously was run by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who now is a presidential adviser. Deutsche Bank has loaned or been a co-lender of at least US$2.5 billion to Trump’s business, much of it at a time when other banks declined providing money to him, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Democrats vs Trump: how impeachment in the US works At one point, when Trump had trouble paying back a loan for a Chicago tower, Trump sued the bank, saying it had played a role in a broader financial crisis that hurt the project. Trump and the bank eventually settled the case. Shortly before Election Day in 2016, Deutsche Bank finalised a US$285 million loan to Kushner’s real estate company, The Washington Post has previously reported. At the time, the bank was negotiating settlements with federal and New York regulators. Congressional Democrats have long said they want to examine the bank’s loans to the Trump and Kushner businesses, particularly to see if there is any connection to money-laundering in Russia. During Wednesday’s hearing, protesters holding signs stating “Congress has a right to know” and “You can sue but you can’t hide” were admonished by the judge after they stood up in the courtroom. Strawbridge argued during the hearing that the committee subpoenas were too broad and claimed that House Democrats were acting as law enforcement rather than legislators. “They are looking for records about minors, about in-laws,” said Strawbridge, claiming that even information about Trump’s grandchildren could be swept up in the subpoenas. A lawyer for the House Democrats, Douglas Neal Letter, said the committees have issued “a whole batch of subpoenas … having nothing to do with Trump or his family.” “This is not an investigation just about Trump and his family,” Letter said. In his ruling from the bench, Ramos said he would not halt enforcement of the subpoena. Ramos said his ruling rejecting a preliminary injunction was of “little consequence” because Trump and his family “are unlikely to succeed on merits of their claims.” Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters

Judge says Deutsche Bank must give Congress Donald Trump’s financial records

Deutsche Bank was one of the few major banks to continue lending Donald Trump money after a series of bankruptcies in the 1990s Trump and three of his children involved in the businesses, together with several of his companies, sued to block the release of these documents

Deutsche Bank was one of the few major banks to continue lending Donald Trump money after a series of bankruptcies in the 1990s

Trump and three of his children involved in the businesses, together with several of his companies, sued to block the release of these documents