Two House committees on Friday asked Friday to intervene in a lawsuit filed by President Trump, his eldest children, and the Trump Organization seeking to block lawmakers’ subpoenas of their financial records.
In a joint motion to intervene filed in Manhattan federal court, the House Financial Services Committee and Intelligence Committee asserted their “broad” authority to oversee the executive branch. The subpoenas of Deutsche Bank and Capital One were necessary to carry out that work, the letter from House general counsel Douglas Letter said.
“The committees have broad legislative, investigative, and oversight authority. Pursuant to this authority, the committees are conducting various investigations on issues of national significance,” it read.
Trump, his children and their family real estate company swiftly responded, seeking a preliminary injunction that would stop the banks from complying with the subpoenas while the lawsuit is underway. The Trumps brought the suit on Monday.
In their own Friday letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, the Trumps said they would suffer “irreparable harm” without the order, accusing Democrats of seeking their private financial information purely “for the sake of exposure.”
Democratic lawmakers are pursuing wide-ranging investigations into the Trump Organization’s financial practices and whether the President’s business interests influenced his political decisions.
Read the Democrats’ new letter below.