Trump, his children, and his businesses sue Deutsche Bank, Capital One in bid to thwart House subpoenas


Lawyers representing President Trump, his three grown children, and seven Trump Organization companies filed a suit late Monday in a bid to prevent Deutsche Bank and Capital One from complying with congressional subpoenas. Two weeks ago, the House Financial Services Committee and House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the two banks, requesting information reportedly including potential evidence of money laundering by people in Russia and Eastern Europe.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, is the latest bid by Trump to shield his personal and business financial records from House Democrats and the public. He has already asked the Treasury Department not to hand over his tax returns and sued his accounting firm and House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to thwart another subpoena.
Monday's lawsuit argues that the House subpoenas "have no legitimate or lawful purpose" and instead are meant to "harass" Trump and "cause him political damage." In a statement, Trump's lawyers Marc Mukasey and Patrick Strawbridge called the subpoenas a "sweeping, lawless, invasion of privacy."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Claiming the House subpoenas are illegitimate or politically motivated is a "frivolous argument, even if it's true," Stanford Law professor David Alan Sklansky tells The Washington Post. "That is not a basis for quashing a subpoena," and in fact, "that's how subpoena power works — it's about getting information that people would like to be kept private." Still, while "this isn't a close legal question," he added, it could delay the House investigation.
The heads of the House committees, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), called the lawsuit "meritless" and "only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible." A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman said the German bank, Trump's largest known lender, remains "committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Libya's 'curious' football cup, played in Italy to empty stadiums
Under The Radar 'Curious collaboration' saw Al-Ahli Tripoli crowned league champions in Milan before a handful of spectators
-
What taxes do you pay on a home sale?
The Explainer Some people — though not many — will need to pay capital gains taxes upon selling their home
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness test
Feature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages