Trump Loses Appeal To Keep Financial Records Out Of Democrats’ Hands

Topline: A federal court said Tuesday it will not stop Deutsche Bank and Capital One from handing over ten years of President Trump’s financial information to House Democrats, dealing another legal blow to Trump as he seeks to keep the records out of lawmakers’ hands⁠—and likely becoming the third such case to reach the Supreme Court.

• In a 100-page decision, U.S. district court judges Debra Ann Livingston, Peter Hall and Jon O. Newman wrote that they would not block congressional subpoenas to obtain the records, despite Trump’s appeal to prevent the banks from complying.
• The case is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court; two additional cases seeking Trump’s financial records are already waiting for justices to take them up.
• Trump has seven days to file an appeal.
• The records are being sought by the House Financial Services and Oversight committees, which claim the information is needed as part of investigations into Russian money laundering and potential foreign influence over Trump.
• In addition to Trump’s financial records, the committees are seeking information on the financial records of his children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, according to the Washington Post. 
• The judges’ decision also said that Trump should be given time to exclude any “sensitive documents” from the records to be handed over, but the committees would be allowed to object to those exclusions. 

Crucial quote: “The Committees’ interests in pursuing their constitutional legislative function is a far more significant public interest than whatever public interest inheres in avoiding the risk of a Chief Executive’s distraction arising from disclosure of documents reflecting his private financial transactions,” the judges wrote.

Key background: There are at least seven separate, ongoing efforts to reveal Trump’s financial records. About a month ago, a three-judge panel ruled that Trump must hand his returns over to Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance. A separate House Ways and Means committee case was tossed by another federal judge November 11, which sent both cases to the Supreme Court. Trump’s lawyers have argued that sitting presidents are immune from all investigations and accused the House committees of engaging in an improper criminal inquiry. Trump has repeatedly promised to release his returns and has falsely claimed tax audits prevented him from doing so, among other reasons.