NY Subpoena Of Trump’s Bank Records Escalates Fraud Probe
President Donald Trump speaks to the media at his private club, Mar-a-Lago, on Thanksgiving in Palm Beach, Fla. Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
New York Attorney General Letitia James has subpoenaed records from Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank. According to multiple reports, the subpoenas are related to loans President Trump’s company received. This comes after Michael Cohen claimed Trump inflated his assets in an effort to try and obtain a loan from Deutsche Bank for the purchase of the Buffalo Bills – a loan he didn’t receive. Cohen also testified that Trump inflated his assets to insurance companies (also being probed by New York) and may have committed tax evasion.
In 2017, Robert Mueller also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank. According to reports, the Trump Organization owes Deutsche Bank $364 million and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s company owes the bank $285 million. In November 2018, Deutsche Bank was raided in a money laundering investigation related to the Panama Papers (there is no evidence this was related to Trump).
This New York subpoena comes after the previous acting-New York Attorney General shut down the Trump Foundation amid the investigation into Trump’s illegal self-dealing. Just like the case of the Trump Foundation, the New York Attorney General has the power to dissolve the Trump Organization if fraudulent conduct is discovered – which there is a history of. Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were nearly indicted for fraudulently misleading their customers when selling units of their Trump SoHo project. It’s also important to note that state crimes cannot be covered by a federal pardon.
Trump has a documented history of other shady behavior. The New York Times reported that Donald Trump received, at least, the equivalent of $413 million from his father’s real estate empire and used shady methods, sometimes constituting fraud, to funnel the money to himself. There are also allegations of money laundering for Russian oligarchs through the sale of overvalued properties. And one cannot forget that Donald Trump paid a $25 million settlement for defrauding customers with Trump University – a payment made after winning the presidency.
Almost every organization Donald Trump has led in recent years is under criminal investigation. The Trump campaign, the Trump administration, the Trump transition, the Trump Organization, the Trump Inaugural Committee, and the Trump Foundation. President Trump has already been implicated in two campaign felonies committed by his former fixer Michael Cohen. The Southern District of New York, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, House Democrats, multiple state attorneys general, and numerous lawsuits are still probing President Trump’s conduct. Given what we know about Donald Trump’s past, it won’t be surprising if more wrongdoing is discovered.
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