The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank to quash Congressional subpoenas is classic Donald Trump. If this lawsuit had a name, it would be,
The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank to quash Congressional subpoenas is classic Donald Trump. If this lawsuit had a name, it would be, “It’s Not Me, It’s You.”
President Trump, his children, and his business organizations stand together as co-plaintiffs against Deutsche Bank and Capital One, suing in federal court in New York in an attempt to throw out Congressional subpoenas. The subpoenas were issued by the House’s Financial Services and Intelligence Committees as part of the long-promised investigation into Trump business dealings; this is what impeachment-hopefuls have been waiting for.
The problem, for the Trumps, is that the subpoenas in question weren’t flung at them, but rather, at third-party financial institutions. As a result, many of the usual subpoena-quashing arguments (we don’t have the documents, it’s burdensome to gather those documents, we don’t know what you’re talking about, etc.) can only be made by the subject banks – and not by POTUS or his kids.
The procedural result is that to stop Deutsche Bank and Capital One from supplying Congress with the requested information, Trump et al. must sue the banks directly to force the issue. Trump’s argument against the congressional subpoenas amount to two lies and a truth – and taken together, they’re not particularly convincing.
In typical Trump fashion, the most pervasive argument in the Trump complaint is also the least persuasive: that Congress lacks the power to even issue these subpoenas, because the document requests are not connected to pending legislation. The complaint even cites the Constitution as proof that Congress has no enumerated power of investigation – only one of legislation.
All of that would make good sense if the subject of Congress’ investigation were literally anyone other than the president.
