House Dems subpoena nine major banks as part of deep dive into Trump's finances

Democrats in the House of Representatives have leveled subpoenas against nine different major banks as part of their investigation into President Donald Trump's finances.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Democrats have subpoenaed American banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America as well as foreign banks Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Deutsche Bank figures to be the bank of most interest to investigators, as it was the only major bank by the late 1990s that was willing to make major loans to Trump after a string of bankruptcies made him toxic to most of Wall Street.

"Since 1998, the bank has led or participated in loans of at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Mr. Trump," the Journal notes.

Additionally, Deutsche Bank has found itself caught up in a massive Russian money-laundering scandal -- and a leaked internal memo obtained by The Guardian this week showed that the bank is concerned that regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom could bring the hammer down for helping Kremlin-linked Russian criminals move dirty money into the global financial system.

"The potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern," House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) said this week. "The Financial Services Committee is exploring these matters, including as they may involve the President and his associates, as thoroughly as possible pursuant to its oversight authority, and will follow the facts wherever they may lead us."