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The Chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chaired a recent committee hearing. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
A high-level investigative committee of the House plans to assign Monday the financial offices of President Trump, Mazars USA, to the financial statements of the latter, according to a note to members of the committee obtained from the Washington Post.
House supervision and reform committee chairman Elijah E. Cummings on Friday warned panel members of his intention to call the company after failing to hand over Trump's financial documents, citing laws and rules requiring mandatory measures on the part of the panel.
Cummings (D-Md.) Had told reporters earlier this month that the company had asked what he called a "friendly subpoena" before following up on that request.
This decision came less than a week after the Treasury Department missed a deadline to return Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee. Lawmakers are waiting for the Trump administration to fight the courts against the President's IRS documents – so they sought other ways to learn about business practices. from Trump in the meantime.
That's why Oversight turned to Mazars and Capital One, Trump's personal bank.
For more than ten years, Mazars and a predecessor company have approved Trump's financial statements, which he used to obtain a loan. Some of the statements involve frequent exaggerations or inaccuracies and were accompanied by a note from the company stating that she was not responsible for the accuracy of the information.
On March 20, the monitoring committee asked the company for copies of the "statements of financial position" and audits prepared for Trump and several of its companies, including the one that owns Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington. . The committee also asked for the supporting documents used to produce the reports and communications between the company and Trump.
The company said on Friday that it "will abide by the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations".
In a letter sent to the committee on March 27 and shared with The Post, Mazars officials set out rules and laws that prevent them from providing information to their clients without "validly issued and enforceable subpoenas".
"As you will certainly understand, Mazars can not voluntarily hand over the documents requested in the application," wrote Jerry D. Bernstein, a lawyer representing the firm at the time.
The most reputable Republican on the committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), criticized the subpoena "to search the President's personal finances," calling Cummings' decision "a staggering abuse of authority by committee and promised. "
Democrats' demands for a decade of financial information followed accusations by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen that Trump had inflated its value to mislead its lenders and insurers.
At a hearing held in late February, Cohen provided copies of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 financial statements that Trump would have sent to Deutsche Bank in order to obtain a loan to purchase the Buffalo Bills of the NFL in 2014.
Cohen said the same type of statement was sent to Trump's insurers in an effort to cut Trump's premiums by reassuring lenders of Trump's ability to pay them.
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