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The Democrats in the House on Monday lodged a subpoena to German lender Deutsche Bank to ask him for information on President Donald Trump's finances, a major escalation of his investigation into his trade relations.
In addition to Deutsche Bank's subpoena, Democrats in the House have summoned other banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, to look for information on money laundering. Russia. The publication of subpoenas was first reported by The New York Times.
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Committees of the Chamber of Intelligence and Financial Services, which authorized subpoenas, Additional charges should soon be issued against Trump's finances, said Democratic assistants.
Democrats are reinforcing their coordinated investigations into Trump's trade relations as the Justice Department prepares to release the results of the investigation of special advocate Robert Mueller on Thursday.
"As part of our oversight authority and our authorized investigation into allegations of potential foreign influence on the US political process, the House Intelligence Committee has issued subpoenas to appear today." numerous financial institutions in coordination with the House Financial Services Committee, including an amicable assignment to Deutsche Bank. who has cooperated with the committees, "said Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Intelligence. "We look forward to their continued cooperation and compliance."
Subpoenas are the latest example of House Democrats "crossing the" red line "Trump has traced in investigating investigators investigating his finances and business transactions. Trump's lawyers have already started to retaliate, warning the accounting firm Mazars USA that it should not comply with a subpoena of the House Oversight Committee and government reform seeking the president's financial records.
Deutsche Bank has long been a priority target for Democrats. The bank has lent Trump hundreds of millions of dollars over the years for real estate development, and its role in money laundering in Russia has also been scrutinized. Democrats said they wanted to know if Russia had leveraged the president via Deutsche Bank and other loans.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chair of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement Monday the potential use of the US financial system for illicit purposes was a "very serious problem".
"The Financial Services Committee considers these issues, including to the extent that they can involve the President and his staff, as closely as possible in accordance with his supervisory authority, and will follow the facts wherever they lead us", she said.
As expected, Republicans criticized the Democrats' subpoenas as "participating in" partisan fishing expeditions "designed to harm Trump and the GOP.
"My colleagues across the way continue to politicize the banking sector and engage in partisan fishing expeditions," said Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC), Republican on the Financial Services Committee. "While ignoring the problems that the American people need our committee to focus on. Republicans have repeatedly expressed their willingness to work in a bipartisan manner, but today's actions only seem to be governed by a political agenda. "
Other financial institutions were waiting for Democrats to seek more information about their dealings with Deutsche Bank, said a representative of another bank.
In a statement, Deutsche Bank said it was "participating in a fruitful dialogue with the House's financial services and intelligence committees".
"We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations, in accordance with our legal obligations," said the bank.
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