NY Attorney General Subpoenas Trump Deutsche Bank Records After Michael Cohen Testimony

The New York attorney general issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for records related to the financing they gave four Trump Organization projects and President Trump’s failed attempt to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, The New York Times reports.

Deutsche Bank was one of very few institutions that were willing to lend Trump money after a series of bankruptcies in the 1990s. Attorney General Letitia James issued the subpoenas after longtime Trump lawyer and Trump Organization official Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump repeatedly lied about the value of his assets in financial statements. Cohen provided copies of statements he had submitted to Deutsche Bank to the House Oversight Committee.

“The inquiry by Ms. James’s office is a civil investigation, not a criminal one, although its focus and scope were unclear,” The Times reported. “The attorney general has broad authority under state law to investigate fraud and can fine — or in extreme cases, go to court to try to dissolve — a business that is found to have engaged in repeated illegality.”

Deutsche Bank loaned Trump $340 million:

Deutsche Bank alone loaned the Trump Organization some $340 million for the Trump International Hotel in DC, Trump National Doral in Florida, and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Investors Bank also helped fund Trump Park Avenue in New York.

Investigators are also looking for records related to Trump’s failed 2014 bid to buy the Bills.

James vowed to investigate Trump after winning her election last year.

"President Trump was almost on the verge of bankruptcy and then all of a sudden he was flush with money and we all know that domestic banks were not offering him -- extending any credit to him and so the question is where did he get all of that money from," James said in a video last year.

"He should be charged with obstructing justice," she later told NowThis. "I believe that the president of these United States can be indicted for criminal offenses and we would join with law enforcement and other attorneys general across this nation in removing this president from office. It's important that everyone understand that the days of Donald Trump are coming to an end."

House Democrats vow to investigate too:

House investigators are also looking to obtain financial documents related to Trump’s company.

"If the special counsel hasn't subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can't be doing much of a money laundering investigation," House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff told NBC News earlier this month. "So, that's what concerns me — that that red line has been enforced, whether by the deputy attorney general or by some other party at the Justice Department. But that leaves the country exposed."

Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters vowed to work alongside Schiff to investigate Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank.

“We know that Deutsche Bank is one of the biggest money laundering banks in the country, or in the world perhaps,” Waters told CNBC. “And we know that this is the only bank that will lend money to the president of the United States because of his past practices. He won't show his tax returns and we have certain information that leads us to believe that there may have been some money laundering activity.”

 

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