Trumps sue banks to try to block House subpoenas for records

WASHINGTON — President Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.

The lawsuit by Trump, sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and daughter Ivanka was filed Monday in federal court in New York. The Trump Organization and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust are among the other plaintiffs.

Two House committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the Republican president’s finances.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, said at the time that the subpoenas were part of an investigation “into allegations of potential foreign influence on the U.S. political process.” He has said he wants to know whether Russians used laundered money for transactions with the Trump Organization. Trump’s businesses have benefited from Russian investment over the years.

The Trumps want a federal judge to declare the subpoenas unlawful and unenforceable. The lawsuit also seeks to block the financial institutions from disclosing information and complying with the subpoenas.

Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, and fellow Los Angeles Democrat Maxine Waters, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, issued a joint statement accusing the president of trying to “put off meaningful accountability as long as possible.”