Bank all but confirms

Deutsche Bank all but confirms it possesses some of Trump’s tax returns

By ANDREW DESIDERIO and BRIAN FALER

Lawyers for Deutsche Bank all but confirmed on Tuesday that the German lender possesses some of President Donald Trump’s tax returns and those of his family members.

The financial giant was responding to an order from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, demanding information about whether Deutsche Bank and Capital One possess any of Trump’s tax returns subpoenaed by the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees earlier this year.

If the 2nd Circuit upholds those subpoenas to the two banks, the president’s tax returns and other financial documents could be used as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation. Last week, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked four other House committees — including Financial Services and Intelligence — to share documents with his panel that could aid its impeachment probe.

Lawyers for Capital One, for its part, said in a corresponding response that the firm “does not believe it possesses tax returns responsive to the subpoenas.”

In its filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Deutsche Bank redacted the names of the individuals for whom it possesses the requested tax returns, citing laws that prohibit the disclosure of such information. But the subpoena to the bank specifically requests Trump’s financial information and tax returns, including those of his adult children and the Trump Organization. Deutsche Bank gave Trump loans totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of his career — a big reason why the German bank has been targeted by Democrats seeking to uncover the president’s finances.

Trump filed a lawsuit in his personal capacity to prevent the two congressional committees — which are investigating potential financial improprieties by the president — from obtaining his financial information from the two banks. A federal District Court judge in Manhattan upheld the subpoenas, but Trump’s attorneys immediately filed an appeal.

The Deutsche Bank and Capital One case is only one of several court fights involving Trump’s tax returns. Trump has launched unprecedented efforts to prevent Congress from accessing his sensitive personal financial information.

The president is suing to prevent House Democrats from obtaining his state filings under a recently passed New York law authorizing officials there to share his confidential tax information with Congress.

Separately, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) is suing the Treasury Department for Trump’s federal returns, under a 1924 law allowing the heads of congressional tax committees to examine anyone’s tax information.

In a third fight, Trump is suing over a California law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to qualify for the state’s primary ballot. Those court battles are still in the early stages.

Trump’s attorneys have also challenged the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s subpoena seeking more financial records from accounting firm Mazars USA, but that subpoena was also upheld at the District Court level and is making its way through the appeals process.