Mueller Goes After Trump’s Bank Accounts, Subpoenas Deutsche Bank
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Dec 5, 2017
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, demanding that it disclose details of transactions and documents on accounts help by President Trump and members of his family as the “Russian collusion” probe now turns its attention to Trump’s bank accounts. According to Handelsblatt, which first reported the news, the bank received the subpoena several weeks ago. Trump has had a banking relationship with Deutsche Bank dating back nearly two decades and the German lender’s $300 million loan accounts for nearly half of his outstanding debt (based on a July 2016 analysis by Bloomberg). Trump’s debt to Deutsche includes $170m relating to a Washington hotel.
The media is taking the Deutsche Bank news as a sign that Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 alleged campaign is “deepening”. However, it was clear that a subpoena was coming more than four months ago (see below) and, besides Michael Flynn, Mueller’s investigation has included interviews with three other former Trump aides recently, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former spokesman Sean Spicer and National Security Council chief of staff Keith Kellogg, according to people familiar with the investigation.
As Bloomberg adds, “the news comes as Mueller’s investigation appears to be entering a new phase, with Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleading guilty Friday to lying to FBI agents, becoming the fourth associate of the president ensnared by Mueller’s probe. More significantly, he also is providing details to Mueller about the Trump campaign’s approach to Flynn’s controversial meeting with a Russian envoy during the presidential transition.”
In June 2017, Deutsche Bank cited privacy laws for rejecting a request from US lawmakers to provide details of its relationship with Trump. The bank said that releasing information on Trump was illegal unless it received a formal request – hence the subpoena. The goal of the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, had been to discover whether Russian entities had provided guarantees – or were connected in any way – to the loans to Trump or his family. According to The Guardian newspaper, Deutsche had conducted an internal investigation but.
The internal review found no evidence of any Russia link, but Deutsche Bank is coming under pressure to appoint an external and independent auditor to review its business relationship with President Trump.
A Deutsche Bank executive told Bloomberg that management was prepared to share information on its business dealings with Trump in the hope that it will end the series of inquiries. The news of the subpoena was expected.
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