“Mad Maxine”, “Socialist Sandy” Will Lead House Probe Into Trump’s Relationship With Deutsche Bank
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Fri, 01/18/2019
Now firmly in control of the House, the Democrats are trying to figure out exactly how they will proceed with the myriad investigations they have promised into potential conflicts of interest pertaining to Trump’s business dealings (among other things). And apparently, the president’s lending relationship with scandal-plagued Deutsche Bank – one of the few banks willing to lend to the Trump Organization over the past decade – could be a jumping off point.
According to Reuters, after pushing to subpoena records from the troubled German lender pertaining to its business relationship with Trump back when she was the committee’s ranking member back in 2017, “Mad Maxine” (now backed by “Socialist Sandy”) is preparing to renew her efforts – and this time, Republicans are no longer in a position to stop her from demanding records that the bank had previously argued were shielded by client confidentiality laws.
But the probe into Trump’s ties to Deutsche Bank won’t be handled by financial services exclusively. The House Intelligence Committee, led by longtime Trump antagonist Adam Schiff, is also planning to take the lead on the investigation, alongside finance (though Waters has the broadest power to request records from DB). As Chairwoman, Waters can unilaterally issue subpoenas.
Aides for the two committees are presently discussing how they will divide up the investigative work to avoid overlapping records requests.
Already feeling the heat from its involvement in European money laundering investigations, it appears Deutsche Bank may be abandoning its resistance to the probes, according to a statement to Reuters.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman said: “Deutsche Bank takes its legal obligations seriously and remains committed to cooperating with authorized investigations. Our recent record of cooperating with such investigations has been widely recognized by regulators. We intend to keep working in this spirit.”
Waters won’t be able to let the subpoenas fly until after the committee’s first business meeting later this month. But aides say she’s already planning to “move quietly” on the investigation.
Deutsche has extended millions of dollars in credit to the Trump Organization, making the bank one of few willing to lend extensively to Trump in the past decade.
A 2017 financial disclosure form showed liabilities for Trump of at least $130 million to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, a unit of German-based Deutsche Bank AG.
House Intelligence Committee Democrats also want to investigate Trump and his Deutsche links, said three congressional officials familiar with committee discussions. A Judiciary Committee spokesman said it has been consulted.
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