Investigators targeting President Trump’s financial and business history may have found a way around the White House’s blocking of congressional subpoenas, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Banks have been handing over thousands of pages of documents related to business ties between Russians and Trump to congressional committees investigating the President, while other banks have been producing information to New York state investigators probing the Trump org.
Letitia James – New York’s attorney general – has reportedly gotten information about loans to the Trump org, potentially offering a tantalizing view of the notoriously opaque group’s financial makeup.
A joint investigation by the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees hit a roadblock in May after Trump sued to block subpoenas issued to two of his longtime lenders – Deutsche Bank and Capital One. Those subpoenas targeted information on the financial history of Trump himself, that of his immediate family, and of his closely held business entities.
But the records being provided by the banks, both to James and to congressional investigators, could shed light on some of the same topics targeted by the subpoenas, providing a potential end-run around the ongoing legal battles.
The banks that have been providing information reportedly include Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo.
James’ office’s investigation into the Trump Org has reportedly yielded emails, loan agreements, and other docs from Deutsche Bank. The same probe reportedly got information from a New Jersey regional bank regarding a 2010 mortgage on Trump Park Avenue.
The New York attorney general’s investigation is a civil probe.
