Trump sues banks to block subpoenas

President Donald Trump and his family filed suit on Monday against Deutsche Bank and Capital One to stop the organizations from complying with congressional subpoenas demanding the president’s financial records by May 6. The House Intelligence and Financial Services committees sent subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One seeking 10 years of Trump’s banking and financial records. The committees said they want to examine the records for the possibility of foreign influence or illicit conduct. New York Attorney General Letitia James has also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank requesting documents about any loans given to Trump and his businesses.

The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, claims Democrats issued the subpoenas to harass the president. “No grounds exist to establish any purpose other than a political one,” Trump’s attorneys argued. Three of the president’s children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, and the Trump Organization joined him as plaintiffs.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in a joint statement, called the lawsuit “meritless,” adding, “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 co-equal branch of government. This unprecedented stonewalling will not work, and the American people deserve better.”

Trump also recently sued House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., to prevent accounting firm Mazars USA from complying with a subpoena seeking eight years of the president’s financial records. The White House also has directed current and former administration officials not to testify before Congress, including former White House lawyer Don McGahn. Democrats have asked Attorney General William Barr to testify before the House and Senate Judiciary committees Thursday about his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative report into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but his compliance is uncertain after the Department of Justice objected to a plan for the committee’s lawyers to question Barr for an additional hour. Democrats have said if Barr doesn’t show, they will issue a subpoena.