A New York federal judge on Wednesday declined to block Congressional subpoenas seeking financial information about President Donald Trump and his family from Deutsche Bank and Capital One.
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Trump's attorney Patrick Strawbridge said that the subpoenas, which ask for financial information dating back to 2010 relating to Trump and his company, children, grandchildren and in-laws, "transgress the limits" of Congress’ power of investigation and violate their privacy rights.
The subpoenas were issued to harass the president and "rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family" to cause him political damage, Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers.
Arguing on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives, which issued the subpoenas, attorney Douglas Letter said that Congress is not just examining Trump, but is conducting a wide-ranging investigation of the entire banking industry. This investigation will help Congress potentially write new laws to combat bank fraud, money laundering, foreign influence in the U.S. political process and security risks from foreign powers with financial leverage, House lawyers argued.
"This is a massive, fundamental misunderstanding Mr. Trump has with Congress," said Letter.
One question the House hopes to answer: "why were you [Deutsche Bank] lending to Trump when no other bank would touch him," Letter queried.