President Donald Trump and his family are suing Deutsche Bank and Capital One, who have indicated they are willing to comply with the subpoena for financial documents provided to them, CNN reported Monday.
"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," Trump's attorneys said in the complaint.
Trump said during the special counsel's investigation that if Robert Mueller looked into his personal finances, it would be "crossing a red line." It's been a comment that many pundits have used to ask what Trump is hiding.
A recent Washington Post report detailed the ways in which Trump committed outright fraud in his loan applications by inflating the size of Trump Tower and the of his winery. According to one expert, Trump isn't likely to face charges for fraud because the exaggerations are so absurd no one should believe they were legitimate claims.
One loan officer interviewed by Raw Story said that others who inflated assets were put in jail when they were found to have done so.
Despite the lies, Deutsche Bank still gave Trump loans for building projects, though he wasn't given the $1 billion he sought to buy the NFL team he wanted.
Trump's legal team said that subpoenas from the House Intelligence Committee and House Financial Services Committee violate banking privacy laws. At least one court has already ruled on the claim, saying that such congressional subpoenas don't violate privacy laws.
"The subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One by Chairpersons Schiff and Waters are unlawful and illegitimate," Trump's lawyers said in a statement. "They seek information going back decades from anyone with even a tangential connection to the President, including children, minors and spouses. Every citizen should be concerned about this sweeping, lawless, invasion of privacy. We look forward to vindicating our clients' rights in this matter."
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) dismissed Trump's latest "Hail Mary pass" as "meritless."
"This lawsuit is not designed to succeed; it is only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible," Schiff said with fellow Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA). "Trump has already said publicly that he is fighting all of the subpoenas from Congress, and that he does not respect Congress' role as a coequal branch of government. This unprecedented stonewalling will not work, and the American people deserve better."
The story is developing.
