Washington - US President Donald Trump, his company and three
of his children are suing Deutsche Bank and Capital One to stop them
from handing over records demanded by congressional committees that
have subpoenaed the information, US media reported on Monday.
The records were demanded from the banks last month by the
Intelligence Committee and the Finance Committee, which are
investigating the president's financial affairs including any
connections with Russia.
But lawyers for Trump and his children Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka
said in a legal action filed in New York on Monday that no grounds
for the subpoenas existed "to establish any purpose other than a
political one," according to broadcaster CNN.
"The subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J Trump, to
rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his
businesses, and the private information of the president and his
family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to
cause him political damage," the suit said.
Deutsche Bank has said it will comply with the subpoenas.
Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters, the chairs of the intelligence and
finance committees respectively, dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless"
in a statement quoted by CNN.
"This lawsuit is not designed to succeed; it is only designed to put
off meaningful accountability as long as possible," the Democratic
lawmakers said.
"Trump has already said publicly that he is fighting all of the
subpoenas from Congress, and that he does not respect Congress' role
as a coequal branch of government. This unprecedented stonewalling
will not work, and the American people deserve better."