Trump Sues Deutsche Bank, Capital One To Block Congress From Accessing Financial Documents

President Donald Trump, his family, and businesses sued Deutsche Bank, and Capital One on Monday to stop them from handing over his financial records to Congressional committees.

This was one more bid to block the Democratic-led House of Representatives from accessing his financial history. The House panels had issued Subpoenas to the banks seeking the information.

This second legal attempt by Trump to stop the banks from sharing his financial dealings is backed by Trump’s family members including children Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka.

Both Deutsche Bank, and Capital One were Trump's lenders.

Aiming the political damage of Trump

The lawsuit filed at New York's Southern District said the “subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J. Trump and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage.”

The legal petition urges Deutsche Bank and Capital One not to comply with subpoenas probing his financial dealings.

The lawsuit complained that rival Democrats are hoping “they will stumble upon something they can expose publicly and use as a political tool against the president”.

Democrats dub it ‘meritless’

However, Representative Maxine Waters, the chairperson of the financial services committee, and Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the intelligence committee, called the lawsuit “meritless.”

In an earlier lawsuit filed in a Washington court, Trump sought to restrain accounting firm Mazars USA and the House Oversight Committee from accessing his financial records.

In the new lawsuit, questions are raised over the legality of the subpoenas sent by the House Intelligence Committee and House Financial Services Committee to the banks.

The lawsuit says the action is invalid and violates the banking privacy laws. It also accuses that the head of House committees did not provide copies of the subpoenas to Trump. He came to know about the communication when it was shared by Deutsche Bank on April 17.

“The subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One by Chairpersons Schiff and Waters are unlawful and illegitimate,” the statement said.

Trump's attorneys said the House committees exceeded their brief by seeking financial records of not only the individual plaintiffs but also their family members including children and grandchildren.

Noting that House committees were seeking information dating “back to decades from anyone with even a tangential connection to the President, including children, minors, and spouses," the lawsuit said it was a red flag against the privacy of a citizen.

However, Deutsche Bank reacted that it would abide by court orders and subpoenas and would provide appropriate information to authorized investigations.