Congress Subpoenas Deutsche Bank As Part Of Democrats' Probe Of Trump Finances

By Kelsey Snell

Published April 16, 2019 at 9:59 AM EDT

A branch of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. The company has received subpoenas from two U.S. House committees about its business dealings with President Trump.

Two House committees have issued subpoenas for information from Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions as part an ongoing investigation into President Trump's finances.

The move is the latest sign that Democrats will continue to seek information on potential criminal activity by Trump and his business associates well after the expected release Thursday of the redacted report by special counsel Robert Mueller about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The subpoenas were issued as part of a joint investigation led by the House Financial Services and intelligence committees into foreign influence on the U.S. political process.

Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., says the use of the financial system for potentially illicit purposes is a serious matter and the investigation is necessary under the committee's oversight authority.

Waters said the committee plans to investigate "as thoroughly as possible pursuant to its oversight authority and will follow the facts wherever they may lead us."

Several institutions were issued subpoenas, but intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., specifically noted Deutsche Bank's "continued cooperation and compliance," calling theirs a "friendly subpoena."

Democrats have been particularly interested in Deutsche Bank and its relationship with the Trump campaign for several years. Waters asked Republicans to open an investigation into Trump's financial ties and potential money laundering at Deutsche Bank back in 2017 but Republicans, who had a majority in the House at the time, refused.

The subpoenas are part of a broader effort by Democrats to establish new information about Trump's financial dealings. A separate probe is underway in the House Ways and Means Committee, where Democrats are demanding that the Treasury Department turn over 10 years of Trump's tax returns.

Treasury lawyers have so far refused to comply and many in Trump's inner circle have publicly questioned the legitimacy of that request.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig on Saturday refuting those questions and demanding that the tax returns be released by April 23.