Trump appeals judge's ruling that Deutsche Bank, Capital One can comply with House Democrats' subpoena for financial records
- President Donald Trump, his businesses and members of his family on Friday appealed a federal judge's decision that Deutsche Bank and Capital One can turn over years of financial records relating to the president.
- On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Edgardo Ramos said that the two banks can comply with the subpoenas issued by the Democrat-led House Intelligence and Financial Services Committees for a broad range of financial information.
- Trump and three of his children — Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric — had sued to block the subpoenas, arguing that they had no "legitimate legislative purpose" and that they were intended to dig up dirt to damage Trump politically.
President Donald Trump, his businesses and members of his family on Friday appealed a federal judge's decision that Deutsche Bank and Capital One can turn over years of financial records relating to the president.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos said that the two banks can comply with the subpoenas issued by the Democrat-led House Intelligence and Financial Services committees for a broad range of financial information. Trump and three of his children — Donald Jr., Trump and Eric — had sued to block the subpoenas, arguing that they had no "legitimate legislative purpose" and that they were intended to dig up dirt to damage the president politically.
A lawyer for Trump told Ramos in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday that an appeal was "probably a safe bet."
Attorneys for Trump did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for a statement on their appeal.
The move marks the second time Trump has sought to overturn a judge's decision that would force the disclosure of his financial records. On Monday, a judge in Washington, D.C., federal court ruled that Mazars, the president's accounting firm, had to turn over such records in response to another subpoena from House Democrats. Trump appealed that ruling the following day.
In both cases, the judges rejected outright each of the arguments put forward to block the subpoenas from House Democrats. The judges outlined broad subpoena powers for Congress, set a low bar for committees establishing a "legislative purpose" when issuing subpoenas, and dismissed the notion that the judiciary should be responsible for evaluating Congress' political motives.
In the Mazars ruling, Judge Amit Mehta wrote that "so long as Congress investigates on a subject matter on which 'legislation could be had,'" then Congress is acting within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution.
Shortly after the ruling, Trump slammed Mehta for making "totally the wrong decision," and noted that Mehta is an "Obama-appointed judge."
Ramos said when delivering his ruling from the bench in court Wednesday that while the Democrats' subpoenas are "undeniably broad," they are "clearly pertinent."
Ramos was also appointed by President Barack Obama.
Neither bank in that case had tried to thwart the subpoenas. After the ruling, Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Kerrie McHugh said: "We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations." The spokeswoman offered the same statement Friday in response to CNBC's request for comment on the notice of appeal.
Capital One did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has vowed to fight "all the subpoenas" related to him that have been issued by House Democrats since they took control of congressional committees after the November midterm elections.
More of the subpoena battles could be headed to court. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week defied subpoenas from the House Ways and Means Committee to hand over six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns. Mnuchin's justification for refusal relied in part on the same arguments made in the two cases that went against Trump this week.
Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., signaled last Friday that he would seek to resolve the matter in court.
The president has accused Democrats of seeking a "do-over" after the public release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, which found insufficient evidence to show a conspiracy between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign and did not make a decision on whether or not Trump himself obstructed justice.
Democrats have fired back, claiming that they have a responsibility to conduct oversight into the president and that there are legitimate reasons to seek the information being requested.
The already fractious and polarized dynamic between the two camps on Capitol Hill intensified this week, when Trump abruptly walked out of a bipartisan infrastructure meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after Pelosi accused Trump of attempting a "cover-up."
Trump then held a fiery solo news conference in the Rose Garden, lambasting the Democrats and admonishing them to "get these phony investigations over with" before any political negotiations can resume.
-- CNBC's Brian Schwartz and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.