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Trump tax returns: Judge rules major banks can hand over president's financial documents

The ruling comes just hours after Mr Trump demanded investigations be stopped

Lily Puckett
New York
Thursday 23 May 2019 00:21 BST
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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the battle for President Trump's tax returns might ultimately have to be decided in court

A judge has ruled that Deutsche Bank and Capital One can hand over Donald Trump’s financial documents in response to congressional subpoenas.

US District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos rejected a request by Mr Trump and his family to block subpoenas issued by Democrats on the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees on Wednesday, striking a blow to the president’s longstanding attempt to keep his financial records secret from the American public.

The subpoenas are seeking years of documents, including tax returns and evidence of suspicious activity.

In the case of Deutsche Bank, which has lent Mr Trump’s real estate company millions of dollars, the subpoenas are also seeking any internal communications regarding Trump and his ties to foreign individuals.

Capital One is home to one of Mr Trump’s personal accounts. In August 2017, Mr Trump wrote a $35,000 cheque to Michael Cohen from this account. That money was linked to the president’s attempt to pay off Stormy Daniels, the porn star who alleged that she had an affair with Mr Trump before he took office.

Last month, the president and his children sued both Deutsche Bank and Capital One to block the subpoenas, claiming they were “too broad.”

Deutsche Bank told CNBC on Wednesday following the judge’s ruling that they would not fight his order.

Capital One has not yet responded to the ruling.

Judge Ramos’s ruling follows a decision by a different federal judge on Monday, which concluded that the House Oversight Committee could subpoena Trump records held by the accounting firm Mazars USA. Mr Trump is appealing this decision.

This morning, Mr Trump abruptly left a scheduled meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to enter the White House Rose Garden, where he told reporters that he refused to work with Democrats until they "get these phony investigations over with".

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