U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One, in a bid to block the two from responding to congressional subpoenas, according a Monday court filing.
The U.S. House issued a subpoena to Deutsche Bank earlier this month and the German lender had said in January that it had received inquiries from Democrat-controlled committees about its links to Trump. In the complaint filed on Monday, the president's team argued that his political opponents leading the House Intelligence and Financial Services Committees are on a fishing expedition.
"This case involves Congressional subpoenas that have no legitimate or lawful purpose. The subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J. Trump, to rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage. No grounds exist to establish any purpose other than a political one," the complaint said.
The filing said the two banks have "long provided business and personal banking services" to the Trumps, and the subpoenas seeking a complete accounting of financial records are an instance of "remarkable overbreadth."
'Permanent injunction'
The Trump team said in its filing that it is requesting the court declare the House subpoenas "are invalid and unenforceable," and that it issue a "permanent injunction quashing the subpoenas." Additionally, the complaint calls for a "permanent injunction prohibiting Deutsche Bank and Capital One from disclosing, revealing, delivering, or producing the requested information, or otherwise complying with the subpoenas."
In a joint statement, House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the litigation "meritless" and "another demonstration of the depths to which President Trump will go to obstruct Congress's constitutional oversight authority." They said the lawsuit "is not designed to succeed; it is only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible."
The move came following the president and his business' suit against Democratic House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings last week to block a subpoena seeking information about Trump's finances.
In that complaint, Trump's lawyers said that Democrats have "declared all-out political war" against him.
For its part, Deutsche Bank allegedly loaned more than $2 billion to Trump before he became president despite multiple red flags surrounding his businesses, the New York Times reported in March.
In response to the latest development, a Deutsche Bank spokesperson told NBC News: "We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations."
— CNBC's Kevin Breuninger and Reuters contributed to this report.