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STAYED,ECF

U.S. District Court Southern District of New York (Foley Square) CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:19-cv-03826-ER

Donald J. Trump et al v. Deutsche Bank, AG et al Assigned to: Judge Edgardo Ramos Case in other court: U.S.C.A. - 2nd Circ., 19-01540 Cause: 28:2201 Constitutionality of State Statute(s)

Date Filed: 04/29/2019 Jury Demand: None Nature of Suit: 890 Other Statutory Actions Jurisdiction: Federal Question

Plaintiff Donald J. Trump

represented by Cameron Thomas Norris Consovoy McCarthy PLLC 1600 Wilson Blvd Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22209 703-243-9423 Email: cam@consovoymccarthy.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

William Consovoy Consovoy McCarthy PLLC 1600 Wilson Blvd Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22209 703-423-9423 Email: will@consovoymccarthy.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Plaintiff

Patrick Strawbridge Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC Ten Post Office Square 8th Floor South PMB, #706 Boston, MA 02109 617-227-0548 Email: patrick@consovoymccarthy.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Donald J. Trump, Jr.
Plaintiff Eric Trump
Plaintiff Ivanka Trump
Plaintiff Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust

represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff 2 Grand Central Tower

Plaintiff Trump Organization, Inc.
Plaintiff Trump Organization LLC

140 East 45th Street 17th Floor New York, NY 10017 212-466-6400 Email: marc.mukasey@mfsllp.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge

Plaintiff DJT Holdings LLC
Plaintiff DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC
Plaintiff Trump Acquisition LLC

(See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Plaintiff Trump Acquisition, Corp.
V. Defendant Deutsche Bank, AG

William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Cameron Thomas Norris (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Marc Lee Mukasey (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
William Consovoy (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Patrick Strawbridge (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Parvin Daphne Moyne Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP One Bryant Park New York, NY 10007-2632 212-872-1076 Fax: 212-872-1002 Email: pmoyne@akingump.com LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Raphael Adam Prober Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 2001 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006 202-887-4319

Defendant Capital One Financial Corp. TERMINATED: 10/14/2020
Intervenor Defendant

Email: rprober@akingump.com LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Steven R Ross Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 2001 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006 202-887-4343 Email: sross@akingump.com LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Thomas C Moyer Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 2001 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006 202-887-4528 Email: tmoyer@akingump.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by James Alwin Murphy Murphy & McGonigle, P.C. 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 21st fl New York, NY 10036 212-880-3968 Fax: 212-880-3998 Email: jmurphy@mmlawus.com LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Steven David Feldman Murphy & McGonigle PC (NYC) 1185 Avenue of the Americas, Fl 21 New York, NY 10036 212-880-3988 Fax: 212-880-3998 Email: sfeldman@mmlawus.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives

represented by Douglas Neal Letter U.S. House of Representatives 219 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-9700 Email: douglas.letter@mail.house.gov LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Brooks M Hanner Office of General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives 219 Cannon House Office Building Washington Washington, DC 20515 202-225-9700 Email: brooks.hanner@mail.house.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
David Hunter Smith Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber 2000 K Street, N.W. Ste 4th Floor Washington, DC 20006 202-775-4523 Fax: 202-775-4510 Email: hsmith@robbinsrussell.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Josephine Morse Office of General Counsel 219 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-9700 Email: jodie.morse@mail.house.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Leslie Esbrook Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber 2000 K Street, N.W. Ste 4th Floor Washington, DC 20006

Intervenor Defendant
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives

202-471-3996 Email: lesbrook@robbinsrussell.com ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Megan Barbero Office of General Counsel Poc James, Melissa Office of General Counsel Cannon House Office Building, Ste 219 Washington, DC 20515 202-225-9700 Email: megan.barbero@mail.house.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Todd Barry Tatelman U.S. House of Representatives 219 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-9700 Email: todd.tatelman@mail.house.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Douglas Neal Letter (See above for address) LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Brooks M Hanner (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
David Hunter Smith (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Josephine Morse (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Leslie Esbrook (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Megan Barbero (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Todd Barry Tatelman (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Date Filed

# Docket Text

04/29/2019 1

COMPLAINT against Deutsche Bank, AG, Capital One Financial Corp.. (Filing Fee $ 400.00, Receipt Number ANYSDC16789203)Document filed by The Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump, Jr, DJT Holdings LLC, Donald J. Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)

04/29/2019 2

CIVIL COVER SHEET filed. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)

04/29/2019 3

REQUEST FOR ISSUANCE OF SUMMONS as to Deutsche Bank
AG, re: 1 Complaint,. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)

04/29/2019 4

REQUEST FOR ISSUANCE OF SUMMONS as to Capital One
Financial Corp., re: 1 Complaint,. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)

04/29/2019 5

RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC.(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)

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04/30/2019

RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC.(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by Trump Acquisition, Corp..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by Trump Acquisition LLC.(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by The Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by Trump Organization LLC.(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
MOTION for Patrick Strawbridge to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16789656. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing (Maine), # 3 Certificate of Good Standing (Massachusetts), # 4 Certificate of Good Standing (Connecticut), # 5 Text of Proposed Order)(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
MOTION for William S. Consovoy to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16789731. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing (Virginia), # 3 Certificate of Good Standing (D.C.), # 4 Text of Proposed Order)(Consovoy, William) (Entered: 04/29/2019)
>>>NOTICE REGARDING PRO HAC VICE MOTION.
Regarding Document No. 12 MOTION for William S.

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Consovoy to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16789731. Motion and supporting papers to
be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff., 11 MOTION for Patrick Strawbridge to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16789656. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff.. The document has been reviewed and there are no deficiencies. (wb) (Entered: 04/30/2019)
***NOTICE TO ATTORNEY REGARDING CIVIL. CASE OPENING STATISTICAL ERROR CORRECTION: Notice to attorney Patrick Strawbridge. The following case opening statistical information was erroneously selected/entered: Cause of Action code 12:3410. The following correction(s) have been made to your case entry: the Cause of Action code has been modified to 28:2201. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)
***NOTICE TO ATTORNEY REGARDING PARTY MODIFICATION. Notice to attorney Patrick Strawbridge. The party information for the following party/parties has been modified: The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust; The Trump Organization, Inc.. The information for the party/parties has been modified for the following reason/reasons: Exclude from the entry of business name any leading A, An or The.. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)
CASE OPENING INITIAL ASSIGNMENT NOTICE: The aboveentitled action is assigned to Judge Edgardo Ramos. Please download and review the Individual Practices of the assigned District Judge, located at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/judges/District. Attorneys are responsible for providing courtesy copies to judges where their Individual Practices require such. Please download and review the ECF Rules and Instructions, located at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/ecf_filing.php. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)
Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger is so designated. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636(c) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 73(b)(1) parties are notified that they may consent to proceed before a United States Magistrate Judge. Parties who wish to consent may access the necessary form at the following link: http://nysd.uscourts.gov/forms.php. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)
Case Designated ECF. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)

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05/01/2019

ELECTRONIC SUMMONS ISSUED as to Deutsche Bank, AG.

13

(dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)

ELECTRONIC SUMMONS ISSUED as to Capital One Financial

14

Corp.. (dnh) (Entered: 04/30/2019)

15 ORDER granting 11 Motion for Patrick Strawbridge to Appear Pro Hac Vice. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) Transmission to Attorney Services/Help Desk. (Entered: 04/30/2019)

16 ORDER granting 12 Motion for William S. Consovoy to Appear Pro Hac Vice. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) Transmission to Attorney Services/Help Desk. (Entered: 04/30/2019)

NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by James Alwin Murphy on behalf of

17

Capital One Financial Corp.. (Murphy, James) (Entered: 05/01/2019)

NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Steven David Feldman on behalf of

18

Capital One Financial Corp.. (Feldman, Steven) (Entered:

05/01/2019)

RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No

19

Corporate Parent. Document filed by Capital One Financial

Corp..(Feldman, Steven) (Entered: 05/01/2019)

WAIVER OF SERVICE RETURNED EXECUTED. Capital One

20

Financial Corp. waiver sent on 4/30/2019, answer due 7/1/2019.

Document filed by Trump Organization, Inc.; Trump Acquisition,

Corp.; Eric Trump; Trump Organization LLC; DJT Holdings

Managing Member LLC; Donald J. Trump, Jr; DJT Holdings LLC;

Donald J. Trump; Ivanka Trump; Trump Acquisition LLC; Donald J.

Trump Revocable Trust. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered:

05/01/2019)

CONSENT MOTION to Set Briefing Schedule for Preliminary-

21

Injunction Motion . Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT

Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable

Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka

Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump

Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1

Text of Proposed Order)(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/01/2019)

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ORDER granting 21 motion SETTING BRIEFING SCHEDULE ON MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION So Ordered. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/1/2019) (js) Modified on 5/2/2019 (js). (Entered: 05/02/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines: ( Motions due by 5/3/2019., Responses due by 5/10/2019, Replies due by 5/15/2019.), Set/Reset Hearings:( Oral Argument set for 5/22/2019 at 02:30 PM before Judge Edgardo Ramos.) (js) (Entered: 05/02/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Marc Lee Mukasey on behalf of DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Mukasey, Marc) (Entered: 05/02/2019)
WAIVER OF SERVICE RETURNED EXECUTED. Deutsche Bank, AG waiver sent on 4/30/2019, answer due 7/1/2019. Document filed by Trump Organization, Inc.; Trump Acquisition, Corp.; Eric Trump; Trump Organization LLC; DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC; Donald J. Trump, Jr; DJT Holdings LLC; Donald J. Trump; Ivanka Trump; Trump Acquisition LLC; Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/02/2019)
CONSENT LETTER MOTION for Leave to File intervention addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives dated 5/3/2019. Document filed by Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Letter, Douglas) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Support re: 26 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . . Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump

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Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
DECLARATION of Patrick Strawbridge in Support re: 26
MOTION for Preliminary Injunction .. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
PROPOSED ORDER. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. Related Document
Number: 26 . (Strawbridge, Patrick) Proposed Order to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. (Entered: 05/03/2019)
LETTER MOTION for Conference regarding Limited Expedited Discovery addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Patrick Strawbridge dated 5/3/2019. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO INTERVENE OF COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES 25 Letter Motion for Leave to File Document. It is SO ORDERED that the motion of the proposed intervenor-defendants Committee on Financial Services and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives (Committees) is GRANTED.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT the intervenor-defendant Committees shall comply with the deadlines set forth in this Courts May 1, 2019 order setting a briefing schedule (ECF No. 22). (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/3/2019) (jca) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
ORDER granting 30 Letter Motion for Conference. A premotion conference will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2019, at 2:30

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p.m. Defendants are directed to submit a response to Plaintiffs' letter by close of business Tuesday, May 7, 2019. It is SO ORDERED. (Pre-Motion Conference set for 5/9/2019 at 02:30 PM before Judge Edgardo Ramos.) (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/3/2019) (jca) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines: Responses due by 5/7/2019 (jca) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Parvin Daphne Moyne on behalf of Deutsche Bank, AG. (Moyne, Parvin) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. No Corporate Parent. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG.(Moyne, Parvin) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
MOTION for Steven R. Ross to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820370. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Steven R. Ross, # 2 District of Columbia Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 Text of Proposed Order)(Ross, Steven) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
MOTION for Raphael A. Prober to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820786. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Raphael A. Prober, # 2 District of Columbia Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 New York Certificate of Good Standing, # 4 Text of Proposed Order)(Prober, Raphael) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
MOTION for Thomas C. Moyer to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820815. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG. (Attachments: # 1
Declaration of Thomas C. Moyer, # 2 District of Columbia Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 Virginia Certificate of Good Standing, # 4 Text of Proposed Order)(Moyer, Thomas) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
>>>NOTICE REGARDING PRO HAC VICE MOTION.
Regarding Document No. 35 MOTION for Steven R. Ross to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820370. Motion and supporting papers to be

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reviewed by Clerk's Office staff., 36 MOTION for Raphael A. Prober to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820786. Motion and supporting papers to
be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff., 37 MOTION for Thomas C. Moyer to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16820815. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff.. The document has been reviewed and there are no deficiencies. (wb) (Entered: 05/06/2019)
***NOTICE TO COURT REGARDING PROPOSED ORDER.
Document No. 29 Proposed Order was reviewed and approved as to form. (km) (Entered: 05/06/2019)
LETTER addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Steven R. Ross dated May 7, 2019 re: Statement of Position. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG.(Ross, Steven) (Entered: 05/07/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Douglas Neal Letter on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Letter, Douglas) (Entered: 05/07/2019)
LETTER addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from James A. Murphy dated May 7, 2019 re: Statement of Position. Document filed by Capital One Financial Corp..(Murphy, James) (Entered: 05/07/2019)
CONSENT LETTER MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives dated 05/07/2019. Document filed by Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Attachments: # 1
Text of Proposed Order)(Letter, Douglas) (Entered: 05/07/2019)
ORDER GRANTING INTERVENOR-DEFENDANTS' CONSENT
MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME granting 41 Letter Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply. It is SO ORDERED that the consent motion of intervenor-defendants Committee on Financial Services and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives for a 24-hour

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extension of time to respond to plaintiffs' May 3, 2019 letter is GRANTED. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/7/2019) Copies Mailed By Chambers. (rro) (Entered: 05/08/2019)
LETTER addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Patrick Strawbridge dated 05/08/2019 re: Withdrawing Letter Motion for Conference. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/08/2019)
MEMO ENDORSEMENT on re: 43 Letter, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. ENDORSEMENT: The conference previously scheduled for May 9, 2019, is hereby terminated. It is SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/8/2019) (kv) (Entered: 05/08/2019)
RESPONSE to Motion re: 26 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . Defendant Deutsche Bank AG's Statement of Position as to Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. Document filed by Deutsche Bank, AG. (Ross, Steven) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
RESPONSE to Motion re: 26 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . . Document filed by Capital One Financial Corp.. (Murphy, James) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Todd Barry Tatelman on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Tatelman, Todd) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Megan Barbero on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Barbero, Megan) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Brooks M Hanner on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of

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Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Hanner, Brooks) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Josephine Morse on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Morse, Josephine) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
RESPONSE in Opposition to Motion re: 26 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . . Document filed by Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Declaration of Todd B. Tatelman, # 2

Exhibit Ex. A to Declaration of Todd B. Tatelman, # 3

05/13/2019 05/14/2019 05/15/2019 05/20/2019

Exhibit Ex. B to Declaration of Todd B. Tatelman)(Letter, Douglas) (Entered: 05/10/2019)

CONSENT LETTER MOTION for Leave to File Excess

52

Pages addressed to Judge Edgardo Ramos from Patrick Strawbridge

dated 5/13/2019. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT

Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable

Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka

Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump

Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick)

(Entered: 05/13/2019)

53 ORDER granting 52 Letter Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages. Plaintiffs are granted leave to file a 15-page reply brief. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) (Entered: 05/14/2019)

REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Support re: 26 54
MOTION for Preliminary Injunction . . Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/15/2019)

NOTICE of Supplemental Authority. Document filed by Committee

55

on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives,

05/21/2019 05/21/2019 05/21/2019 05/22/2019 05/24/2019
05/24/2019

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Opinion, # 2 Exhibit Order)(Letter, Douglas) (Entered: 05/20/2019)
56 ORDER granting 35 Motion for Steven R. Ross to Appear Pro Hac Vice. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) Transmission to Attorney Services/Help Desk. (Entered: 05/21/2019)
57 ORDER granting 36 Motion for Raphael A. Prober to Appear Pro Hac Vice. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) Transmission to Attorney Services/Help Desk. (Entered: 05/21/2019)
58 ORDER granting 37 Motion for Thomas C. Moyer to Appear Pro Hac Vice. (HEREBY ORDERED by Judge Edgardo Ramos)(Text Only Order) (jar) Transmission to Attorney Services/Help Desk. (Entered: 05/21/2019)

59

ORDER: denying 26 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. For the

reasons set forth on the record in today's hearing, Plaintiffs' motion

for a preliminary injunction is DENIED, Plaintiffs' motion for a stay

pending appeal is DENIED, and the Committees' application for

consolidation is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed

to terminate the motion, Doc. 26. It is SO ORDERED. (Signed by

Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/22/2019) (ama) (Entered: 05/22/2019)

60

NOTICE OF INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL from 59 Order on

Motion for Preliminary Injunction,. Document filed by DJT

Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J.

Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric

Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition,

Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. Filing

fee $ 505.00, receipt number ANYSDC-16950902. Form C and

Form D are due within 14 days to the Court of Appeals, Second

Circuit. (Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/24/2019)

Transmission of Notice of Appeal and Certified Copy of Docket

Sheet to US Court of Appeals re: 60 Appeal. (tp) (Entered: 05/24/2019)

Notice of Interlocutory

05/24/2019
05/25/2019 61
05/28/2019
05/28/2019 62
10/10/2019 63

Appeal Record Sent to USCA (Electronic File). Certified Indexed
record on Appeal Electronic Files for 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump were transmitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals. (tp) (Entered: 05/24/2019)
JOINT MOTION to Stay . Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc..(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 05/25/2019)
USCA Case Number 19-1540 from the U.S.C.A. - 2nd Circ.
assigned to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. (nd) (Entered: 05/28/2019)
MEMO ENDORSEMENT granting 61 Motion to Stay. ENDORSEMENT: The application is granted. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 5/28/2019) (kv) Modified on 8/30/2019 (kv). (Entered: 05/28/2019)
OPINION of USCA (Certified Copy) as to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540cv. This opinion considers motions by several news organizations to intervene in a pending appeal and to unseal an unredacted letter filed in this Court on August 27, 2019, under seal in that appeal. See Trump v. Deutsche Bank, AG, No. 19. 1540 (2d Cir. argued Aug. 23, 2019). The letter was filed by Deutsche Bank AG in an appeal from an Order denying a preliminary injunction sought by President Donald J. Trump, members of his family, and several affiliated entities ("Appellants") to prevent compliance with subpoenas issued

12/03/2019
12/03/2019 12/03/2019

to Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corporation by two committees of the United States House of Representatives. The subpoenas seek production of numerous documents, including tax returns. The appeal is still pending. Unsealing the letter is sought to learn the redacted names of taxpayers whose income tax returns are in Deutsche Bank's possession. Appellants in the pending appeal and Deutsche Bank oppose the motion. The motions to intervene are GRANTED; the motions for unsealing are DENIED. Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for the Second Circuit. Certified: 10/10/2019. (nd) (Entered: 10/10/2019)
64 USCA OPINION (Certified) as to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540-cv. Expedited interlocutory appeal from the May 22, 2019, order of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Edgardo Ramos, District Judge) denying Plaintiffs-Appellants' motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Defendants-Appellees' compliance with subpoenas issued to them by the Intervenor Defendants-Appellees and denying Plaintiffs-Appellants' motion for a stay pending appeal. Affirmed in substantial part and remanded in part. Judge Livingston concurs in part and dissents in part with a separate opinion. Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for the Second Circuit. Certified: 12/03/2019. (Attachments: # 1 Concurring opinion by Judge Livingston)(nd) (Entered: 12/03/2019)
Transmission of USCA Opinion to the District Judge re: 64 USCA Opinion. (nd) (Entered: 12/03/2019)

65

MANDATE of USCA (Certified Copy) as to 60 Notice of

Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT

Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump

Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition,

Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump

Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540-

cv. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that

the district court's order is AFFIRMED in substantial part and

REMANDED in part.. Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for

the Second Circuit. Issued As Mandate: 12/03/2019. (Attachments:

# 1 Opinion, # 2 Concurring Opinon)(nd) (Entered: 12/03/2019)

12/03/2019 12/13/2019
66
02/19/2020 67
02/20/2020
10/13/2020 68

Transmission of USCA Mandate to the District Judge re: 65
USCA Mandate. (nd) (Entered: 12/03/2019)
ORDER of USCA (Certified Copy) as to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540cv. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-715 is granted. The application (19A640) for stay presented to Justice Ginsburg and by her referred to the Court is granted, and it is ordered that the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, case No. 19-1540, is hereby stayed pending further order of the Court. In addition, the application is treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari, and the petition is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. The cases will be set for argument in the March 2020 argument session. Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for the Second Circuit. Certified: 12/13/2019. (nd) (Entered: 12/16/2019)
United States Supreme Court record Request as to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540; SCUS Case Number 19-0760. (tp) (Entered: 02/20/2020)
Appeal Record Sent to SCUS (Electronic File). Certified Indexed
record on Appeal Electronic Files for 66 USCA Order -
Other, 67 Appeal Remark, USCA Case Number 19-1540; SCUS Case Number 19-0760, were transmitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. (tp) Modified on 2/20/2020 (tp). (Entered: 02/20/2020)
FILING ERROR - DEFICIENT DOCKET ENTRY SIGNATURE ERROR - STIPULATION OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the parties and/or their respective counsel(s) that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed, against the defendant(s) Capital One Financial Corp. pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Federal Rules

10/13/2020

of Civil Procedure. Document filed by Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump, Jr, DJT Holdings LLC, Donald J. Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Proposed document to be reviewed and processed by Clerk's Office staff (No action required by chambers)...(Strawbridge, Patrick) Modified on 10/13/2020 (km). (Entered: 10/13/2020)
***NOTICE TO ATTORNEY REGARDING DEFICIENT VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL. Notice to Attorney Patrick

10/13/2020
10/13/2020 10/14/2020

Strawbridge. RE-FILE Document No. 68 Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal. The filing is deficient for the following reason(s): the stipulation needs to have handwritten signatures of the attorneys. Re-file the document using the event type Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal found under the event list Other Documents - select the correct filer/filers - select the correct party/parties the voluntary dismissal is against - and attach the correct signed PDF. (km) (Entered: 10/13/2020)

69 STIPULATION OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the parties and/or their respective counsel(s) that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed, against the defendant(s) Capital One Financial Corp. pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Document filed by Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump, Jr, DJT Holdings LLC, Donald J. Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Proposed document to be reviewed and processed by Clerk's Office staff (No action required by chambers)...(Strawbridge, Patrick) (Entered: 10/13/2020)

***NOTICE TO COURT REGARDING STIPULATION OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL Document No. 69 Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal was reviewed and referred to Judge Edgardo Ramos for approval for the following reason(s): the plaintiff(s) filed their voluntary dismissal and it did not dismiss all of the parties or the action in its entirety. (km) (Entered: 10/13/2020)

STIPULATION OF DISMISSAL OF DEFENDANT CAPITAL

70

ONE FINANCIAL CORP.: In filings with the U.S. Court of Appeals

for the Second Circuit dated August 26, 2020, the House Committee

on Financial Services indicated that it has withdrawn its subpoena to

12/14/2020 71
12/30/2020 72
12/30/2020 01/04/2021
73

Defendant Capital One Financial Corp. ("Capital One"). See No. 191540, Doc. 272 at 2 (noting that "the Financial Services Committee has withdrawn its subpoena to Capital One Financial Corporation entirely"). As a result, the undersigned parties are in agreement that Capital One should be dismissed from this action, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 21 and/or 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). So Ordered. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 10/14/2020) Capital One Financial Corp. terminated. (ks) (Entered: 10/14/2020)
ORDER of USCA (Certified Copy) USCA Case Number 19-1540cv. The judgment of the Supreme Court in the captioned case having been received on August 10, 2020, and the parties having submitted their views as to the appropriate disposition of the appeal, it is hereby ORDERED that the case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings in compliance with the Supreme Courts decision. See Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019 (2020). Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for the Second Circuit. Certified: 12/14/2020. (tp) (Entered: 12/14/2020)
MANDATE of USCA (Certified Copy) as to 60 Notice of Interlocutory Appeal,, filed by Trump Acquisition LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Acquisition, Corp., Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., DJT Holdings LLC, Trump Organization LLC, Donald J. Trump. USCA Case Number 19-1540. The judgment of the Supreme Court in the captioned case having been received on August 10, 2020, and the parties having submitted their views as to the appropriate disposition of the appeal, it is hereby ORDERED that the case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings in compliance with the Supreme Courts decision. See Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019 (2020).. Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk USCA for the Second Circuit. Issued As Mandate: 12/30/2020. (Attachments: # 1 Order).(nd) (Entered: 12/30/2020)
Transmission of USCA Mandate/Order to the District Judge re: 72
USCA Mandate,,,..(nd) (Entered: 12/30/2020)
NOTICE OF COURT CONFERENCE: A telephonic status conference will be held on January 12, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. The parties are directed to call the Court at (877) 411-9748 and enter access code 302 9857# when prompted. Telephone Conference set for 1/12/2021 at 11:00 AM before Judge Edgardo Ramos. (mro) (Entered: 01/04/2021)

01/11/2021 01/14/2021
01/14/2021
01/27/2021 01/27/2021

Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Edgardo Ramos: Status Conference held on 1/11/2021 by telephone. Plaintiffs' and Defendants' counsel present. The parties are directed to submit on consent a proposed briefing schedule once subpoenas are issued. A status letter is due April 15, 2021. (jar) (Entered: 01/26/2021)

74 FILING ERROR - DEFICIENT DOCKET ENTRY - MOTION for Cameron Thomas Norris to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC-23510786. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing (VA), # 3 Certificate of Good Standing (TN), # 4 Text of Proposed Order).(Norris, Cameron) Modified on 1/14/2021 (wb). (Entered: 01/14/2021)

>>>NOTICE REGARDING DEFICIENT MOTION TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE. Notice to RE-FILE Document No. 74 MOTION for Cameron Thomas Norris to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Filing fee $ 200.00, receipt number ANYSDC23510786. Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff... The filing is deficient for the following reason(s): missing Certificate of Good Standing from Supreme Court of Virginia;. Re-file the motion as a Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice - attach the correct signed PDF - select the correct named filer/filers - attach valid Certificates of Good Standing issued within the past 30 days - attach Proposed Order.. (wb) (Entered: 01/14/2021)

75 TRANSCRIPT of Proceedings re: CONFERENCE held on 1/12/2021 before Judge Edgardo Ramos. Court Reporter/Transcriber: Jennifer Thun, (212) 805-0300. Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. Redaction Request due 2/17/2021. Redacted Transcript Deadline set for 3/1/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/27/2021..(McGuirk, Kelly) (Entered: 01/27/2021)

NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT Notice is

76

hereby given that an official transcript of a CONFERENCE

proceeding held on 1/12/21 has been filed by the court

reporter/transcriber in the above-captioned matter. The parties have

seven (7) calendar days to file with the court a Notice of Intent to

02/04/2021 77
02/05/2021

Request Redaction of this transcript. If no such Notice is filed, the transcript may be made remotely electronically available to the public without redaction after 90 calendar days....(McGuirk, Kelly) (Entered: 01/27/2021)
MOTION for Cameron Thomas Norris to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. Document filed by DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald J. Trump, Jr, Donald J. Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp., Trump Organization LLC, Trump Organization, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing (TN), # 3 Certificate of Good Standing (VA), # 4 Text of Proposed Order).(Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 02/04/2021)
>>>NOTICE REGARDING PRO HAC VICE MOTION.

02/25/2021 02/25/2021

Regarding Document No. 77 MOTION for Cameron Thomas Norris to Appear Pro Hac Vice . Motion and supporting papers to be reviewed by Clerk's Office staff. The document has been reviewed and there are no deficiencies. (aea) (Entered: 02/05/2021)
78 NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by David Hunter Smith on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives..(Smith, David) (Entered: 02/25/2021)
79 NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by Leslie Esbrook on behalf of Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives..(Esbrook, Leslie) (Entered: 02/25/2021)

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1:19-cv-03826-ER 1.80

 
 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP JR., ERIC TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP,

and
THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC, and TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,

Docket No. _____________ COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs,

- against -

DEUTSCHE BANK AG and CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP.,

Defendants.

Plaintiffs, by their attorneys Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC and Mukasey Frenchman &

Sklaroff LLP, bring this complaint against Defendants and allege as follows:

A. INTRODUCTION 1. This case involves Congressional subpoenas that have no legitimate or lawful purpose.

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. No grounds

exist to establish any purpose other than a political one.

2. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Financial

Services Committee issued the subpoenas to Defendants Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One

Financial Corp. These two financial institutions have long provided business and personal banking

services to Plaintiffs.

1

3. The Chairpersons of the Intelligence and Financial Services Committees (Adam B. Schiff and Maxine M. Waters) have confirmed the issuance of the subpoenas, making public statements to the media that emphasize their intention to probe every aspect of the private lives of the Trump family, their businesses, and even those with only the most tangential connection to Trump entities, regardless whether any evidence (credible or otherwise) exists to support such intrusive probes. The Committees have refused to provide copies of the subpoenas to Plaintiffs—preventing them from even knowing, let alone negotiating, the subpoenas’ scope or breadth.
4. Nonetheless, Defendants’ descriptions of the subpoenas confirm their remarkable overbreadth. According to Defendants, the Committees are seeking all banking and financial records not just concerning the individual Plaintiffs, but also their own family members. This means the subpoenas request documents about accounts of the Plaintiffs’ children (and in some cases, grandchildren).
5. The subpoenas to the entities are equally intrusive and overbroad. They seek not only the Plaintiffs’ documents, but also the financial records of their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, divisions, partnerships, properties, groups, special purpose entities, joint ventures, predecessors and successors. As if that were not broad enough, the subpoenas extend further to documents concerning each of the entities’ current or former employees, officers, directors, shareholders, partners, members, consultants, managers, senior associates, staff employees, independent contractors, agents, attorneys, or other representatives.
6. For most of the documents, the Committees demand records from the last ten years. For others, the request is unbounded—meaning the Committees seek records dating back decades, to the individual Plaintiffs’ own childhoods.
7. The intrusiveness and impropriety of these requests are obvious. The House of Representatives is demanding, among other things, records of every single checking withdrawal, credit-card swipe, or debit-card purchase—no matter how trivial or small—made by each and every
2

member of the Trump family. But the dates and times when these individuals purchased books, groceries and other personal items is not the business of the House of Representatives or anyone else. It is an abuse of power to claim otherwise (particularly since the Committees declined to ask Plaintiffs themselves for the records, or even to discuss the scope of their requests).
8. In an effort to justify their demands, the chairs of the Committees have claimed that the subpoenas are intended to investigate “potential foreign influence on the U.S. political process” or the use of the financial system for “illicit purposes.” But the information they seek long predates the President’s election to office, reaches well beyond transactions associated with foreign parties, and encompasses reams of account records for entities, individuals, children, and spouses who have never even been implicated in any probe.
9. The Committees have ignored the constitutional limits on Congress’ power to investigate. Article I of the Constitution does not contain an “Investigations Clause” or an “Oversight Clause.” It gives Congress the power to enact certain legislation. Accordingly, investigations are legitimate only insofar as they further some legitimate legislative purpose. No investigation can be an end in itself. And Congress cannot use investigations to exercise powers that the Constitution assigns to the executive or judicial branch.
10. The subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One lack any legitimate legislative purpose. There is no possible legislation at the end of this tunnel; indeed, the Committee Chairs have not claimed otherwise. With these subpoenas, the Committees are instead assuming the powers of the Department of Justice, investigating (dubious and partisan) rumors of illegal conduct by private individuals, many of whom are outside of government. Their goal is to rummage around Plaintiffs’ private financial information in the hope that they will stumble upon something they can expose publicly and use as a political tool against the President.
11. Moreover, the Committees’ attempts to obtain Plaintiffs’ account records violate the statutory requirements that apply to the federal government under the Right to Financial Privacy Act
3

(“RFPA”). Under the RFPA, federal authorities are required to follow certain steps—including the provision of notice and an opportunity to object—before obtaining private financial records. The Committees have ignored these requirements, and any production of account records by Deutsche Bank or Capital One would violate the law.
12. This Court has the power to declare the subpoenas invalid and enjoin Defendants from complying with them for at least two reasons. First, because the Committees’ subpoenas threaten to expose Plaintiffs’ confidential account information and lack “a legitimate legislative purpose,” and second, because they violate the protections of the RFPA. See Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491, 501 n.14 (1975) (endorsing U.S. Servicemen’s Fund v. Eastland, 488 F.2d 1252, 1259-60 (D.C. Cir. 1973), which authorized a private right of action for declaratory and injunctive relief); 12 U.S.C. §3418 (authorizing injunctive relief to prevent violations of the RFPA). Plaintiffs are entitled to that relief. B. PARTIES
13. Plaintiff Donald J. Trump is the 45th President of the United States. President Trump brings this suit solely in his capacity as a private citizen.
14. Plaintiff Donald J. Trump Jr. is the son of President Trump. 15. Plaintiff Eric Trump is the son of President Trump. 16. Plaintiff Ivanka Trump is the daughter of President Trump. 17. Plaintiff The Trump Organization, Inc. is a New York corporation with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022. 18. Plaintiff Trump Organization LLC is a New York limited liability company with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022. 19. Plaintiff DJT Holdings LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
4

20. Plaintiff DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
21. Plaintiff Trump Acquisition, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
22. Plaintiff Trump Acquisition Corp. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
23. Plaintiff The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is a trust created and operating under the laws of New York.
24. Defendant Deutsche Bank AG is a bank organized under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany with a branch at 60 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005. Deutsche Bank received one or more subpoenas from the Committees seeking account records and other documents concerning one or more of Plaintiffs.
25. Defendant Capital One Financial Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in McLean, VA, with numerous branch offices in New York City. Capital One received one or more subpoenas from the Committees seeking account records and other documents concerning one or more of Plaintiffs. C. JURISDICTION & VENUE
26. This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction because this case arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States, 28 U.S.C. §§1331, 2201, and because it is brought to enforce the provisions of the RFPA, 12 U.S.C. §3416.
27. Venue is proper because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to Plaintiffs’ claims occurred in this district and a substantial part of the property that is the subject of Plaintiffs’ action is situated in this district. 28 U.S.C. §1391(b)(2).
5

D. BACKGROUND 1. Challenges to Congressional Subpoenas 28. Not infrequently, federal courts adjudicate the legality of congressional subpoenas.
Most such cases follow a familiar pattern: Congress issues a subpoena, the target does not comply, Congress tries to force compliance in federal court, and the target raises the illegality of the subpoena as a defense.
29. But this defensive posture is not the only way to challenge a congressional subpoena. When Congress “seeks information directly from a party,” that party “can resist and thereby test the subpoena.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 501 n.14. But when Congress “seeks that same information from a third person,” this option is not available; the third party might not have an interest in protecting the information or resisting the subpoena, and its “compliance” with the subpoena “could frustrate any judicial inquiry.” Id. For that reason, the law allows the person whose information will be exposed to sue in federal court for an injunction or declaratory judgment to block the third party from complying. Eastland, 488 F.2d at 1259, 1255. The third party cannot comply with the subpoena unless “a legitimate legislative purpose is present.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 501.
30. The “legitimate legislative purpose” requirement stems directly from the Constitution. “The powers of Congress … are dependent solely on the Constitution,” and “no express power in that instrument” allows Congress to investigate individuals or to issue compulsory process. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 182-89 (1880). The Constitution instead permits Congress to enact certain kinds of legislation. See, e.g., Art. I, §8. Thus, Congress’ power to investigate “is justified solely as an adjunct to the legislative process.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 197. “Congress is not invested with a general power to inquire into private affairs. The subject of any inquiry always must be one on which legislation could be had.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 504 n.15 (cleaned up); see also Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161 (1955) (“[T]he power to investigate” does not “extend to an area in which Congress is forbidden to legislate.”).
6

31. “Oversight” and “transparency,” in a vacuum, are not legitimate legislative purposes that can justify subpoenaing a private citizen. For more than a century, in fact, the Supreme Court has been quite “sure” that neither the House nor Senate “possesses the general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen.” Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 190. “[T]here is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. “No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress.” Id. at 187.
32. Additionally, because Congress must have a legitimate legislative purpose, it cannot use subpoenas to exercise “any of the powers of law enforcement.” Quinn, 349 U.S. at 161. Those powers “are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary.” Id. Put simply, Congress is not “a law enforcement or trial agency,” and congressional investigations conducted “for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators” or “to ‘punish’ those investigated” are “indefensible.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 187. Our tripartite system of separated powers requires that “any one of the[] branches shall not be permitted to encroach upon the powers confided to the others, but that each shall by the law of its creation be limited to the exercise of the powers appropriate to its own department and no other.” Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 190-91.
33. Finally, when a subpoena is issued by a committee, any legislative purpose is not legitimate unless it falls within that committee’s jurisdiction. “The theory of a committee inquiry is that the committee members are serving as the representatives of the parent assembly in collecting information for a legislative purpose.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. Congress therefore must “spell out that group’s jurisdiction and purpose with sufficient particularity … in the authorizing resolution,” which “is the committee’s charter.” Id. at 201. The committee “must conform strictly to the resolution.” Exxon Corp. v. FTC, 589 F.2d 582, 592 (D.C. Cir. 1978). And when an investigation is “novel” or “expansive,” courts will construe the committee’s jurisdiction “narrowly.” Tobin v. United States, 306 F.2d 270, 275 (D.C. Cir. 1962).
7

2. The Campaign of Abusive Investigations and Harassment of Plaintiffs 34. After the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats won a majority of seats in the House. Every House committee in the current Congress is thus chaired by a Democrat. 35. On the night of the election, soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that “tomorrow will be a new day in America” because the new majority would enact “checks and balances to the Trump administration.” And “subpoena power,” she explained a few days later, is “a great arrow to have in your quiver.” “Congress is going to force transparency on this president,” another congressional aide repeated. “Once there is transparency, I am sure there are going to be a lot of questions that flow from that.” 36. The statements about “checks and balances” and “transparency” were not referring to legislation. Instead, according to news outlets that interviewed party leaders and aides shortly after the election, the statements meant that they were going to spend the next two years launching a “fusillade” of subpoenas in order to “drown Trump with investigations,” “turn Trump’s life upside down,” and “make Trump’s life a living hell.” 37. Prominent Representatives were quite candid about their mission. Representative John Yarmuth, now chair of the House Budget Committee, stated that the new House majority would be “brutal” for President Trump: “We’re going to have to build an air traffic control tower to keep track of all the subpoenas flying from here to the White House.” Another senior official revealed that, from November 2018 to January 2019, Representatives were busy preparing a “subpoena cannon” to fire at President Trump based on a “wish-list” of nearly 100 investigatory topics. Representative Nita Lowey, now chair of the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed a long list of topics that the House planned to investigate and stated, “We have our boxing gloves on. I’m ready.” Just last month, Chairwoman Waters declared that “I haven’t forgotten about 45”—meaning President Trump. “I have the gavel—and subpoena power—and I am not afraid to use it.”
8

38. The “focus,” according to then–Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, would be examining “the President in terms of what [business] interests he has” from his time as a private citizen. Chairwoman Waters declared that “[w]e’re going to find out where your money has come from.” The Committees want this personal information in the hopes they will find something to score political points against the President leading up to the 2020 election.
39. The Committee Chairpersons are executing their plan in earnest. Recently, several House committees issued a flurry of subpoenas and requests for information about the President’s family, personal finances, and businesses. Just one request by Chairman Jerrold Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee, for example, asked 81 different individuals and entities for information about President Trump.
40. A few weeks ago, Chairpersons Schiff, Waters, and Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee agreed to coordinate their subpoenas in order to inflict maximum political damage on President Trump by targeting his business and financial records.
41. Last Monday, Chairman Cummings sent one such subpoena to Mazars USA LLP— Plaintiffs’ longtime accountant.
42. The subpoenas at issue in this lawsuit were sent shortly thereafter. 3. The Subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One. 43. Chairman Schiff and Chairwoman Waters issued statements to the press confirming the existence of the subpoenas to Defendants shortly after they were sent. Chairman Schiff confirmed that Deutsche Bank had received a “friendly” subpoena. Chairman Waters told the press that the subpoenas were sent as part of an alleged inquiry into the “potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes.” 44. Plaintiffs, through counsel, contacted the Committees and requested copies of the subpoenas to help determine their scope. Notwithstanding their willingness to discuss the subpoenas
9

with the press, the Committees declined to provide copies of the subpoenas (or any information about their contents) to Plaintiffs.
45. On April 17, 2019, counsel for Deutsche Bank confirmed in writing to Plaintiffs that it had received the subpoenas. According to Deutsche Bank, the subpoenas seek “records and/or information related to banking activities, including information regarding accounts, financings, and related financial information” for all of the named Plaintiffs.
46. Moreover, the subpoenas to Deutsche Bank seek production of account records and other financial information for Plaintiffs’ “parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, divisions, partnerships, properties, groups, special purpose entities, joint ventures, predecessors, successors or any other entity in which they have or had a controlling interest.” The subpoenas further extend to all “current or former employees, officers, directors, shareholders, partners, members, consultants, managers, senior associates, staff employees, independent contractors, agents, attorneys or other representatives” of the Plaintiff entities.
47. For the individual Plaintiffs, Deutsche Bank has advised that the subpoenas seek banking and financial records for all “members of their immediate families,” including any accounts for which they are beneficiaries, trustees, beneficial owners, or over which they have control. This sweeps in the complete banking and account records of numerous children—including minors—and spouses of the named individuals.
48. Deutsche Bank subsequently confirmed that, in general, the subpoenas call for it to produce responsive documents from January 1, 2010 through the present—although for some documents (including account applications and opening documents), the subpoena requires production without any time limitation.
49. Deutsche Bank informed Plaintiffs that, absent a court order, they intend to begin production of documents in response to the subpoena on May 6.
10

50. Plaintiffs subsequently contacted Capital One, which confirmed receipt of a subpoena that, upon information and belief, seeks similar documents from the same Plaintiffs. Capital One has informed Plaintiffs that it feels obligated to comply with the subpoena absent court intervention before May 6.
51. Plaintiffs have numerous accounts, including personal, family, and business accounts, at Deutsche Bank and Capital One.
52. The records at issue are protected from disclosure by the federal Right to Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. §3501 et seq., which imposes strict procedural requirements on federal attempts to obtain account records. The Committees did not follow those procedures here and, as a result, the Act prohibits Deutsche Bank and Capital One from producing the account records.
53. Plaintiffs bring this suit to challenge the validity and enforceability of the subpoenas. Now that the subpoenas have issued, Deutsche Bank and Capital One face a difficult choice: ignore the subpoenas and risk contempt of Congress, or comply with the subpoenas and risk liability to Plaintiffs under the RFPA and other laws. To resolve these conflicting commands, courts instruct third-party custodians like Defendants to hold onto the subpoenaed materials until the dispute over the subpoenas’ validity is finally resolved in court. See United States v. AT&T Co., 567 F.2d 121, 129 (D.C. Cir. 1977); United States v. Deloitte LLP, 610 F.3d 129, 142 (D.C. Cir. 2010). Thus, Congress cannot take any action against Deutsche Bank or Capital One until this litigation is finally resolved. E. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
1. The Subpoenas Exceed the Committees’ Constitutional Authority 54. Plaintiffs incorporate all their prior allegations. 55. The subpoenas are invalid and unenforceable because they have no legitimate legislative purpose. 56. The subpoenas seek to investigate events that occurred while President Trump was a private citizen, years before he was even a candidate for public office.
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57. The subpoenas seek to investigate events that could not possibly lead to legislation within the Intelligence or Financial Services Committees’ statutory jurisdiction and constitutional authority.
58. The subpoenas are an attempt to investigate and adjudicate possible violations of federal law by private individuals—law-enforcement powers that only the executive and judicial branches can exercise.
2. The Subpoenas Violate the Right to Financial Privacy Act 59. Plaintiffs incorporate all their prior allegations. 60. The RFPA prohibits Deutsche Bank and Capital One from giving a customer’s protected account information to the federal government. 12 U.S.C. §3403(a). 61. Financial institutions can turn over a customer’s information only if the government certifies that it has complied with the RFPA’s procedures. §3403(b). For a subpoena, those procedures include (1) “reason to believe” that the records are ”relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry”; (2) giving a copy of the subpoena to the customer; and (3) waiting at least 10 days so the customer has a chance to object. §3405; see also §3408 (similar procedures for “written requests”). 62. The Committees have not complied with the RFPA’s provisions or issued the required certifications. 63. The RFPA authorizes injunctive relief “to require that the procedures of this chapter are complied with.” §3418. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs ask this Court to enter judgment in their favor and to provide the following relief: a. A declaratory judgment that the subpoenas are invalid and unenforceable; b. A permanent injunction quashing the subpoenas;
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c. A permanent injunction prohibiting Deutsche Bank and Capital One from disclosing, revealing, delivering, or producing the requested information, or otherwise complying with the subpoenas;
d. A temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting Deutsche Bank and Capital One from disclosing, revealing, delivering, or producing the requested information, or otherwise complying with the subpoenas, until the subpoena’s validity has been finally adjudicated on the merits;
e. Plaintiffs’ reasonable costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees; and f. All other preliminary and permanent relief to which Plaintiffs are entitled.

Dated: April 29, 2019

Respectfully submitted,

Marc L. Mukasey MUKASEY FRENCHMAN & SKLAROFF LLP 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10177 347-527-3940 marc.mukasey@mukaseylaw.com

s/ Patrick Strawbridge Patrick Strawbridge (pro hac vice pending) CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC Ten Post Office Square 8th Floor South PMB #706 Boston, MA 02109 patrick@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for The Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, The Trump Corporation, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Acquisition LLC, and Trump Acquisition, Corp.

William S. Consovoy Cameron T. Norris CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC 3033 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 700 Arlington, VA 22201 (703) 243-9423 will@consovoymccarthy.com cam@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump

13

 
 Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25 Filed 05/03/19 Page 1 of 4

DOUGLAS N. LETTER
GENERAL COUNSEL
TODD B. TATELMAN
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
MEGAN BARBERO
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL
219 CANNON HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6532 (202) 225-9700 FAX: (202) 226-1360

KRISTIN A. SHAPIRO
ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL
BROOKS M. HANNER
ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL
SARAH E. CLOUSE
ATTORNEY

May 3, 2019
VIA CM/ECF
Hon. Edgardo Ramos United States District Judge Southern District of New York Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, NY 10007
Re: Trump, et al. v. Deutsche Bank AG, et al., No. 1:19-cv-03826
Dear Judge Ramos:
Pursuant to Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this Court’s Rule 7.1(d), the Committee on Financial Services and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) of the U.S. House of Representatives (collectively, Committees) seek leave to intervene in the above-captioned matter.1 The Committees seek intervention as of right pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2) or, in the alternative, permissive intervention under Rule 24(b)(1)(B). All parties consent to the relief sought by the Committees’ motion. If intervention is granted, the Committees will file an opposition to plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and otherwise participate fully in this action on the schedule already set by the Court. A proposed order is attached as Exhibit A.
Plaintiffs Donald J. Trump (in his individual capacity), Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, and Trump Acquisition, Corp. (collectively, Trump or plaintiffs) filed this suit to challenge the validity of subpoenas issued by the Committees to defendant Deutsche Bank AG and by the Financial Services Committee to defendant Capital One Financial Corp. Trump wishes to prevent the banks from producing any documents to the Committees in response to the

1 The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) of the U.S. House of Representatives has authorized the Committees’ intervention in this matter. BLAG comprises the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, the Honorable Steny H. Hoyer, Majority Leader, the Honorable James Clyburn, Majority Whip, the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader, and the Honorable Steve Scalise, Republican Whip, and “speaks for, and articulates the institutional position of, the House in all litigation matters.” Rule II.8(b), Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives (116th Cong.), https://tinyurl.com/HouseRules116thCong. The Republican Leader and Republican Whip decline to join in this motion.
1

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25 Filed 05/03/19 Page 2 of 4
subpoenas. The Committees seek to intervene to defend their significant interests in the enforcement of their subpoenas. Only the Committees can adequately defend their own interests in this action. And the Committees have acted expeditiously to intervene, filing this motion— with the consent of all parties—only four days after the complaint was filed. See Compl. (Apr. 29, 2019), ECF No. 1.
The Committees have broad legislative, investigative, and oversight authority. See Rule X, Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives (116th Cong.). Pursuant to this authority, the Committees are conducting various investigations on issues of national significance. The Committee on Financial Services is conducting wide-ranging investigations of the adequacy of existing policies and programs at financial institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of lending practices, including the prevention of loan fraud, industry compliance with banking statutes and regulations—including Bank Secrecy Act compliance, particularly in the areas of correspondent banking and Know Your Customer/Anti-Money Laundering policies—and the use of anonymous corporations to place illicit funds into legitimate investments. HPSCI is conducting investigations into efforts by Russia and other foreign entities to influence the U.S. political process during and since the 2016 election—including financial or other leverage that foreign actors may have over President Donald J. Trump, his family, and his business interests and associates—and the counterintelligence, national security, and legislative implications thereof. HPSCI is also evaluating whether the structure, legal authorities, policies, and resources of the U.S. Government’s intelligence, counterintelligence, and law enforcement elements are adequate to combat this threat to U.S. national security.
In furtherance of these ongoing investigations, the Committees issued the challenged subpoenas: the Committees issued substantially identical subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and the Committee on Financial Services separately issued a subpoena to Capital One. The subpoenas seek financial records relating to President Trump, his immediate family, and related entities. Plaintiffs filed their complaint on April 29, 2019, ECF No. 1, and intend to file a motion for preliminary injunction by May 3, 2019. The parties negotiated a highly expedited briefing schedule, and the Committees have therefore postponed the return date for the challenged subpoenas until seven days after this Court rules on Trump’s motion. ECF No. 21. The Court has already entered the parties’ agreed-upon briefing schedule and set a hearing for May 22, 2019. ECF No. 22.
The Court should grant the Committees’ motion to intervene as of right. To intervene as of right, “an applicant must (1) timely file an application, (2) show an interest in the action, (3) demonstrate that the interest may be impaired by the disposition of the action, and (4) show that the interest is not protected adequately by the parties to the action.” Catanzano by Catanzano v. Wing, 103 F.3d 223, 232 (2d Cir. 1996) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2)). The Committees satisfy that standard here: They promptly sought intervention; they have a substantial interest in compliance and enforcement of their subpoenas; and they would be severely prejudiced if they were not allowed to participate in this action to protect their interests, which are not adequately represented by any of the parties. On similar facts, courts have allowed
2

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25 Filed 05/03/19 Page 3 of 4
House Committees to intervene to protect their interests in ensuring compliance with subpoenas issued to third parties.2
First, the Committees filed this letter-motion seeking leave to intervene as expeditiously as possible—just four days after plaintiffs filed their complaint. During that four-day period, the parties negotiated an agreement on intervention and scheduling. Second, the Committees have a substantial, legally protected interest in ensuring a proper response to subpoenas issued in furtherance of their constitutional legislative and oversight authorities. See generally Comm. on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives v. Miers, 558 F. Supp. 2d 53 (D.D.C. 2008). The response to the subpoenas from the banks will aid the Committees in carrying out their legislative duties and determining whether to amend existing laws or propose new legislation. Third, and relatedly, this action threatens to impair the Committees’ legally protected interests because Trump seeks to prevent the banks from producing any records in response to the Committees’ subpoenas. Finally, Deutsche Bank and Capital One—which are private firms—do not adequately represent the Committees’ interests in ensuring compliance with their subpoenas. The banks, in fact, have no legal interest in the Committees’ legislative or oversight prerogatives; their interest is limited to determining their obligation to comply with the subpoenas. United States v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 551 F.2d 384, 385 (D.C. Cir. 1976) (recognizing the House was “the real defendant in interest” and AT&T “ha[d] no stake in the controversy beyond knowing whether its legal obligation is to comply with the subpoena or not”).
The Committees also readily satisfy the three requirements for Article III standing: (1) injury in fact, (2) causation, and (3) redressability. Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992). Courts have routinely held that the House and its Committees have standing to enforce Congressional subpoenas. See, e.g., Miers, 558 F. Supp. 2d at 69 (“[T]he House has standing to invoke the federal judicial power to aid in its investigative function.”); U.S. House of Representatives v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce, 11 F. Supp. 2d 76, 86 (D.D.C. 1998) (“[I]t [is] well established that a legislative body suffers a redressable injury when that body cannot receive information necessary to carry out its constitutional responsibilities.”). Plaintiffs seek to prevent production of responsive records, and this Court may grant the Committees the relief they seek: namely, an order confirming that the subpoenas are valid and enforceable.
If the Court finds that the Committees do not satisfy the standard for intervention as of right, it should permit the Committees to intervene under Rule 24(b)(1)(B). The Committees expeditiously moved to intervene and have a claim or defense that shares a common question of law with the main action: the enforceability of the Committees’ subpoenas to the banks. This timely intervention will not delay the case or prejudice the parties. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b)(3).
For the foregoing reasons, the Court should grant the Committees’ motion to intervene.
2 See, e.g., Order, Trump, et al. v. Cummings, et al., No. 1:19-cv-01136 (D.D.C. Apr. 29, 2019) (granting Committee on Oversight and Reform’s motion for leave to intervene to defend subpoena issued to Mazars USA, LLP, an accounting firm that prepared financial statements for President Trump); Bean LLC v. John Doe Bank, 291 F. Supp. 3d 34, 39 (D.D.C. 2018) (noting that the court had granted House Committee’s motion to intervene in a suit brought by bank’s client challenging subpoena issued to bank for client’s financial records).
3

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25 Filed 05/03/19 Page 4 of 4
Respectfully submitted, /s/ Douglas N. Letter Douglas N. Letter
General Counsel Todd B. Tatelman
Deputy General Counsel Megan Barbero
Associate General Counsel Brooks M. Hanner
Assistant General Counsel
OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES* 219 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Telephone: (202) 225-9700 douglas.letter@mail.house.gov
cc: All counsel who have appeared in this case (via ECF)
* Attorneys for the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives are “entitled, for the purpose of performing the counsel’s functions, to enter an appearance in any proceeding before any court of the United States or of any State or political subdivision thereof without compliance with any requirements for admission to practice before such court.” 2 U.S.C. § 5571.
4

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25-1 Filed 05/03/19 Page 1 of 2

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

DONALD J. TRUMP; DONALD J. TRUMP, JR.; ERIC TRUMP; IVANKA TRUMP; THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST; THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC.; TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC; DJT HOLDINGS LLC; DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC; TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC; and TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
DEUTSCHE BANK AG and CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP.,
Defendants,
COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Intervenor-Defendants.

Case No. 1:19-cv-03826-ER

[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO INTERVENE OF COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND
PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
It is SO ORDERED that the motion of the proposed intervenor-defendants Committee on
Financial Services and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of
Representatives (Committees) is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 25-1 Filed 05/03/19 Page 2 of 2

THAT the intervenor-defendant Committees shall comply with the deadlines set forth in this Court’s May 1, 2019 order setting a briefing schedule (ECF No. 22).

Dated: __________

_________________________________ Judge Edgardo Ramos UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

Copies to:
William S. Consovoy CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC 3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22201 will@consovoymccarthy.com
James Alwin Murphy MURPHY & MCGONIGLE, P.C. 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 21st Floor New York, NY 10036 jmurphy@mmlawus.com
Marc Lee Mukasey MUKASEY FRENCHMAN & SKLAROFF 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10177 mukaseym@gtlaw.com
Deutsche Bank, AG 60 Wall Street New York, NY 10005

 
 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP JR., ERIC TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP,

and
THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC, and TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,

Docket No. 1:19-cv-03826-ER
NOTICE OF MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Plaintiffs,

- against -

DEUTSCHE BANK AG and CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP.,

Defendants.

Per Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction against

Defendants Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp. and Intervenor-Defendants House

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Financial Services Committee, prohibiting

these parties from taking any steps to enforce or comply with the challenged subpoenas until this

Court enters final judgment. Plaintiffs’ motion is based on the attached memorandum of law, their

declaration and other filings, and any oral argument or evidence presented at the preliminary-

injunction hearing. Plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction because they have shown

“‘(a) irreparable harm and (b) either (1) likelihood of success on the merits or (2) sufficiently serious

questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation and a balance of hardships

tipping decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary relief.’” Citigroup Glob. Markets, Inc. v.

VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 35 (2d Cir. 2010).

Respectfully submitted,

Dated: May 3, 2019

s/ Patrick Strawbridge T

Marc L. Mukasey Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10177 347-527-3940 marc.mukasey@mukaseylaw.com

Patrick Strawbridge CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC Ten Post Office Square 8th Floor South PMB #706 Boston, MA 02109 patrick@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, The Trump Corporation, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, and Trump Acquisition, Corp.

William S. Consovoy Cameron T. Norris CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC 3033 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 700 Arlington, VA 22201 (703) 243-9423 will@consovoymccarthy.com cam@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Patrick Strawbridge, declare under penalty of perjury that I served a copy of this motion and

all attached exhibits via email to counsel for Deutsche Bank and the House of Representatives.

Counsel for Capital One will be served via ECF.

Dated: May 3, 2019

s/ Patrick Strawbridge

 
 Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 27 Filed 05/03/19 Page 1 of 17

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP JR., ERIC TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP,

and
THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC, and TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,

Docket No. 1:19-cv-03826-ER
MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Plaintiffs,

- against -

DEUTSCHE BANK AG and CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP.,

Defendants.

INTRODUCTION The House of Representatives desperately wants President Donald J. Trump’s private financial

records. But instead of trying to obtain them from the President, the House Permanent Select

Committee on Intelligence and Financial Services Committee issued subpoenas to two banks that

have done business with the President: Deutsche Bank and Capital One. According to the Banks, the

Committees’ sweeping subpoenas seek a mountain of documents—covering at least the last ten

years—not only about President Trump, but also his children, their children and spouses, a number

of his businesses, and even any affiliates, employees, or agents of those businesses. The Committees

are demanding, among other things, records of every single checking-account withdrawal, credit-card

swipe, or debit-card purchase—no matter how trivial or small—made by each and every member of

the Trump family. This case, accordingly, presents an important dispute between the President, two

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 27 Filed 05/03/19 Page 2 of 17
major banks, the House of Representatives, and a number of individuals and companies totally outside government about the legality of two outrageously broad subpoenas.
What makes judicial intervention so urgent is that the subpoenas instruct the Banks to produce Plaintiffs’ confidential information by May 6, 2019. While the Committees have stayed that deadline until after this Court resolves Plaintiffs’ preliminary-injunction motion, the Committees have not agreed to stay the deadline until after this Court renders final judgment. Plaintiffs thus seek a preliminary injunction to ensure they have a full and fair opportunity to contest the merits of the subpoenas’ legality. More precisely, Plaintiffs ask this Court to enter a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendants from complying with or enforcing the subpoenas until this Court can reach a final decision on the merits of Plaintiffs’ important claims. Only this preliminary relief will ensure that Congress’ attempts to enforce the subpoenas do not interfere with the “arduous and delicate task” that the Constitution has assigned to this Court. Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 198 (1957). Plaintiffs are entitled to interim relief for two independent reasons.
First, Plaintiffs face “‘irreparable harm’” and have a “‘likelihood of success on the merits.’” Citigroup Glob. Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 35 (2d Cir. 2010). Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm because, if this Court does not intervene to preserve the status quo, there will be no way to unring the bell once the Banks give Congress the requested information. The Committees will have reviewed confidential documents that this Court may later determine were illegally subpoenaed. No damages award could ever make Plaintiffs whole. And the denial of temporary relief could prevent any meaningful judicial review of Plaintiffs’ claims. This is the quintessential case of irreparable harm.
Plaintiffs are also likely to prevail on the merits of their claims. The Committees’ overbroad subpoenas are not supported by a “legitimate legislative purpose.” Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491, 501 n.14 (1975). The Committees have not identified any legislative purpose—let alone
- 1 -

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 27 Filed 05/03/19 Page 3 of 17
a potential piece of legislation—that their requests are designed to advance. At best, the Committees seek these documents so they can conduct law-enforcement activities that the Supreme Court has held are reserved to the other branches. More likely, though, the Committees want to collect and “expose” the financial documents of the President—and his children and grandchildren—“for the sake of exposure.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. That purpose is illegitimate and provides no constitutional footing for the subpoenas. Nor do the subpoenas comply with the procedural requirements of the Right to Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. §3501 et seq., which regulates the federal government’s attempts to obtain private financial information. In fact, Congress will not even give Plaintiffs copies of the subpoenas to allow them (and this Court) to fairly assess their true scope and purpose. Because Plaintiffs have not received the necessary notice or opportunity to object, the RFPA prohibits the Banks from turning over Plaintiffs’ confidential information to Congress. §3403(a)-(b).
Second, Plaintiffs easily prevail under the alternative test for a preliminary injunction: irreparable harm plus “‘sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation’” and “‘a balance of hardships tipping decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary relief.’” Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35. In a procedurally identical case, the D.C. Circuit has held that irreparable harm is the “decisive element” favoring interim relief against a congressional subpoena to a third-party bank. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund v. Eastland, 488 F.2d 1252, 1256-57 (D.C. Cir. 1973), subsequent merits decision rev’d on other grounds, 421 U.S. 491. Only interim relief can ensure that the thirdparty bank does not disclose the plaintiff’s information before this Court can consider the “serious constitutional questions” raised by the subpoenas with the necessary “consideration and deliberation.” Id.
For the same reasons, the balance of harms and public interest tilt decidedly in Plaintiffs’ favor. The Banks will suffer no harm if interim relief is granted; if anything, they will be spared the cost of complying with sweeping subpoenas and the prospect of liability to Plaintiffs under the RFPA. Indeed,
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the Banks have made clear that they will respect any court order staying the time for compliance. See, e.g., Dkt. 21 (consent motion for temporary injunction). The only harm that the Committees will suffer, if they ultimately prevail on the merits, is some delay before receiving the documents. Courts have consistently held that such harm is given little weight and pales in comparison to the severe harm that Plaintiffs will suffer if the status quo is not preserved. And there is no public interest in allowing Congress to subvert judicial review by enforcing a subpoena that has been challenged as illegal. To the contrary, the public interest is served by ensuring that this important dispute encompassing two coequal branches is fully and fairly resolved before the Committees get documents that they are unwilling to ask the President for directly.
Finally, granting a preliminary injunction will allow this case to be adjudicated in an orderly fashion. Without one, Plaintiffs will be forced to seek the same relief from the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court. There is no reason to burden the appellate courts with emergency requests. The preliminary injunction would be for a limited duration, would ensure that the status quo is preserved while this Court considers the merits, and would cause no appreciable harm to Defendants or the public. Plaintiffs thus respectfully request that this Court grant a preliminary injunction.
BACKGROUND The 2018 midterm elections flipped control of the House of Representatives and its committees. Compl. ¶34. Representative Adam Schiff is now Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Maxine Waters is Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee. Id. ¶3. After assuming their positions, these Chairs (along with their party leadership) announced that they would aggressively issue subpoenas to force disclosure of President Trump’s private finances. Id. ¶¶35-38. In recent weeks, several House committees have executed that plan by issuing a flurry of subpoenas and requests for information about the President’s family, personal
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finances, and businesses—almost all of which is completely unrelated to his term and duties in office. Id. ¶¶39-42.
This lawsuit concerns two of those subpoenas. The challenged subpoenas were issued as part of a secret agreement among three House committees to coordinate their efforts to obtain as much information as possible about Plaintiffs and their private financial records. Id. ¶40. The subpoenas’ existence is not secret; Chairman Schiff and Chairwoman Waters issued public statements confirming their existence shortly after they were issued. Chairman Schiff confirmed that Deutsche Bank had received a “friendly” subpoena. And Chairman Waters told the press that the subpoenas were sent as part of an alleged inquiry into the “potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes.”1
In an effort to ascertain firsthand the breadth of the subpoenas—and because federal law imposes notice requirements on the government’s attempts to obtain financial records—Plaintiffs’ counsel contacted the Committees and requested copies of the subpoenas. Counsel for the House responded by noting that Plaintiffs “are not the recipients of any subpoenas issued by the Committees and, consistent with long-standing practice, the Committees do not provide copies of subpoenas to third parties.” Strawbridge Decl., Ex. A.
Because the House refused to provide any information about the subpoenas, Plaintiffs can rely only on the Banks’ descriptions of their scope (the Banks also declined to provide copies of the actual subpoenas). According to Deutsche Bank, the subpoenas “require[] production of certain records and/or information related to banking activities, including information regarding accounts, financings, and related financial information” for all of the named Plaintiffs. Id., Ex. B. The demand extends to any account “in the name of any of the above-named individuals or entities … or members of their immediate family.” Id. (emphasis added). They also extend to “any account in which any of the
1 See, e.g., Emily Flitter & David Enrich, Deutsche Bank Is Subpoenaed for Trump Records by House Democrats, New York Times (Apr. 15, 2019), nyti.ms/2Xa90V6; Kelsey Snell, Congress Subpoenas Deustche Bank as Part of Democrats’ Probe of Trump Finances, NPR (Apr. 16, 2019 9:59 A.M.), n.pr/2KJTHBj.
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above-named individuals or entities are, or were … a trustee, settlor or grantor, beneficiary, or beneficial owner, or in which any of the individuals or entities have or have had in any way control over, individually or with others.” Id.
The demand is just as sweeping for the entity Plaintiffs. According to Deutsche Bank, its subpoena seeks the same information about any of those entities’ “parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, divisions, partnerships, properties, groups, special purpose entities, joint ventures, predecessors, successors, or any other entity in which they have or had a controlling interest.” Id. It even includes any records of “any current or former employee, officer, director, shareholder, partner, member, consultant, senior manager, manager, senior associate, staff employee, independent contractor, agent, attorney or other representative” of the entity Plaintiffs. Id.
The scope of the subpoenas is equally expansive with respect to time. Deutsche Bank confirmed that “[i]n general, the subpoenas call for the Bank to produce responsive documents from January 1, 2010 through the present.” But for “documents related to account applications, opening documents, KYC, due diligence, and closing documents ... the subpoena requires production without any time limitation.” Id., Ex. C.
It is no exaggeration, then, to say that these subpoenas seek any financial document in the recipients’ possession that is connected in any way, shape, or form to any of Plaintiffs, for at least a ten-year period. It would be hard to imagine a more intrusive and wide-ranging request to a bank about its customers. On their face, the subpoenas demand detailed records about children’s savings accounts, individuals’ debit- and credit-card purchases, and sensitive personal details that accompany account-opening documents.
Plaintiffs brought this suit to challenge the Banks’ planned compliance with these illegal and overbroad subpoenas. The subpoenas instruct the Banks to produce Plaintiffs’ confidential information by May 6. The Committees have agreed to push that deadline back until after the Court
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resolves this motion, but no longer. Plaintiffs thus need a preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo until the subpoenas’ validity can be fully litigated on the merits.
ARGUMENT The purpose of a preliminary injunction is “to keep the parties, while the suit goes on, as far as possible in the respective positions they occupied when the suit began.” Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738, 742 (2d Cir. 1953). Plaintiffs are entitled to this relief if they show “‘(a) irreparable harm and (b) either (1) likelihood of success on the merits or (2) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary relief.’” Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35. Plaintiffs satisfy this standard, in both of its iterations. I. Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm without a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs undoubtedly face irreparable harm if the Court does not issue an order preserving the status quo. If this Court does not intervene, the Banks could give the Committees reams of Plaintiffs’ financial records—private information that was shared with the Banks on the condition that they would keep it confidential. If the Banks produce the information, the status quo can never be restored. One district court aptly explained why the disclosure of confidential records is “[c]learly … irreparable in nature”: Once confidentiality is breached, the harm is done and cannot be undone. Plaintiff cannot subsequently perform its commitment to its clients to protect the confidentiality of the documents and the information which they contain. There is no way to recapture and remove from the knowledge of others information improperly disclosed by Defendant. No court order or specific performance can be framed to accomplish that end, and no award of money damages will change the fact that information which Plaintiff was entitled to have kept from the knowledge of third parties is no longer shielded from their gaze. Confidentiality, like pregnancy, is an all or nothing proposition; either it exists or it does not exist. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Bishop, 839 F. Supp. 68, 72 (D. Me. 1993). “Once the documents are surrendered,” in other words, “confidentiality will be lost for all time. The status quo could never be restored.” Providence Journal Co. v. FBI, 595 F.2d 889, 890 (1st Cir. 1979); see PepsiCo, Inc.
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Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 27 Filed 05/03/19 Page 8 of 17
v. Redmond, 1996 WL 3965, at *30 (N.D. Ill. 1996) (“[J]ust as it is impossible to unring a bell, once disclosed, … confidential information lose their secrecy forever.”); Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Usery, 426 F. Supp. 150, 172 (D.D.C. 1976) (“Once disclosed, such information would lose its confidentiality forever.”). That is why “[t]he disclosure of private, confidential information ‘is the quintessential type of irreparable harm that cannot be compensated or undone by money damages.’” Airbnb, Inc. v. City of New York, 2019 WL 91990, at *23 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 3, 2019) (quoting Hirschfeld v. Stone, 193 F.R.D. 175, 187 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)).
Immediate intervention is also needed to preserve Plaintiffs’ opportunity to secure judicial review of their constitutional claims. “Courts routinely issue injunctions to stay the status quo when” events might otherwise “moot the losing party’s right to appeal.” John Doe Co. v. CFPB, 235 F.Supp.3d 194, 206 (D.D.C. 2017); see Ctr. For Int’l Envtl. Law v. Office of U.S. Trade Rep., 240 F. Supp. 2d 21, 2223 (D.D.C. 2003) (explaining that the movant makes “a strong showing of irreparable harm” where disclosure would moot any appeal); John Doe Agency v. John Doe Corp., 488 U.S. 1306, 1309, (1989) (Marshall, J., in chambers) (“The fact that disclosure would moot that part of the Court of Appeals’ decision requiring disclosure … create[s] an irreparable injury.”). This “irreparable” harm exists when a plaintiff challenges a congressional subpoena to a third party. Eastland, 488 F.2d at 1256. “[C]ompliance by the third person could frustrate any judicial inquiry” into “whether a legitimate legislative purpose is present.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 501 n.14. Allowing this to happen would wrongly deny the plaintiff’s rights and “immunize the subpoena from challenge” based on “the fortuity that documents sought by a congressional subpoena are not in the hands of a party claiming injury from the subpoena.” United States v. AT&T Co., 567 F.2d 121, 129 (D.C. Cir. 1977). In other words, denying interim relief could “entirely destroy [Plaintiffs’] rights to secure meaningful review.” Providence Journal Co., 595 F.2d at 890. That is classic irreparable harm.
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II. Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits. A. The subpoenas lack a legitimate legislative purpose. Not infrequently, federal courts adjudicate the legality of congressional subpoenas. Most of
these cases follow a familiar fact pattern: Congress issues a subpoena, the target does not comply, Congress tries to force compliance in federal court, and the target raises the illegality of the subpoena as a defense in litigation.
But this is not the only way to challenge a congressional subpoena. When Congress “seeks information directly from a party,” that party “can resist and thereby test the subpoena.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 501 n.14. When Congress “seeks that same information from a third person,” however, this option is not available; the third party might not have an interest in protecting the information or resisting the subpoena, and its “compliance” with the subpoena “could frustrate any judicial inquiry.” Id. For that reason, the law allows the person whose information will be exposed to sue in federal court for an “injunction or declaratory judgment.” Eastland, 488 F.2d at 1259. The key question in such a case is “whether a legitimate legislative purpose is present.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 501.
The “legitimate legislative purpose” requirement stems directly from the Constitution. “The powers of Congress … are dependent solely on the Constitution,” and “no express power in that instrument” allows Congress to investigate individuals or to issue compulsory process. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 182-89 (1880). The Constitution instead permits Congress to enact certain kinds of legislation. See, e.g., Art. I, §8. Thus, Congress’ power to investigate “is justified solely as an adjunct to the legislative process.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 197. “Congress is not invested with a general power to inquire into private affairs. The subject of any inquiry always must be one on which legislation could be had.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 504 n.15 (cleaned up); see also Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161 (1955) (“[T]he power to investigate” does not “extend to an area in which Congress is forbidden to legislate.”).
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“Oversight” and “transparency,” in a vacuum, are not legitimate legislative purposes that can justify subpoenaing a private citizen. For more than a century, in fact, the Supreme Court has been quite “sure” that neither the House nor Senate “possesses the general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen.” Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 190. “[T]here is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. “No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress.” Id. at 187.
Additionally, because Congress must have a legitimate legislative purpose, it cannot use subpoenas to exercise “any of the powers of law enforcement.” Quinn, 349 U.S. at 161. Those powers “are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary.” Id. Put simply, Congress is not “a law enforcement or trial agency,” and congressional investigations conducted “for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators” or “to ‘punish’ those investigated” are “indefensible.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 187. Our tripartite system of separated powers requires that “any one of the[] branches shall not be permitted to encroach upon the powers confided to the others, but that each shall by the law of its creation be limited to the exercise of the powers appropriate to its own department and no other.” Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 190-91.
Finally, when a subpoena is issued by a single committee, any legislative purpose is not legitimate unless it falls within that committee’s jurisdiction. “The theory of a committee inquiry is that the committee members are serving as the representatives of the parent assembly in collecting information for a legislative purpose.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. Congress therefore must “spell out that group’s jurisdiction and purpose with sufficient particularity … in the authorizing resolution,” which “is the committee’s charter.” Id. at 201. The committee “must conform strictly to the resolution.” Exxon Corp. v. FTC, 589 F.2d 582, 592 (D.C. Cir. 1978). And when an investigation is “novel” or “expansive,” courts will construe the committee’s jurisdiction “narrowly.” Tobin v. United States, 306 F.2d 270, 275 (D.C. Cir. 1962).
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Plaintiffs will likely prove that the Committees’ subpoenas are not supported by a legitimate legislative purpose. The Committees have never identified a single piece of legislation within their respective jurisdictions that they are considering. The stated justification for their subpoenas, instead, is to investigate “potential foreign influence on the U.S. political process” or the use of the financial system for “illicit purposes.” But the information they seek long predates the President’s election to office, reaches well beyond transactions associated with foreign parties, and encompasses reams of account records for entities, individuals, children, and spouses who have never even been implicated in any probe. The subpoenas are thus a transparent attempt to “expose” Plaintiffs’ finances “for the sake of exposure.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200. The financial conduct of private citizens years before they were anywhere near public office, moreover, has nothing to do with government oversight and is a quintessential law-enforcement task reserved to the executive and judicial branches. These wildly overbroad subpoenas are an improper attempt to exercise authority that Congress does not have. This Court will likely quash or narrow them.
B. The subpoenas violate the Right to Financial Privacy Act. In addition to the constitutional concerns, the Committees’ subpoenas violate Plaintiffs’ statutory rights under the RFPA. The RFPA prohibits the federal government from accessing “the financial records of any customer” from a bank unless the government first follows certain procedures. 12 U.S.C. §3402. The Act likewise prohibits banks from disclosing a customer’s financial records until the government complies with those procedures, §3403(a), and certifies that it did so, §3403(b). For subpoenas, summons, and other written requests, the RFPA requires the government to (1) have “reason to believe” that the records are “relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry”; (2) give the customer a copy of the subpoena, summons, or request; and (3) wait at least ten days so the customer can file a motion to quash. §§3405, 3408. If the government fails to follow these procedures, the customer can obtain “injunctive relief … to require that [they] are complied with.” §3418. And if
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a bank turns over the records before the government complies with the RFPA, the bank is liable for
statutory damages, actual damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. §3417. In short, “the
RFPA defines the conditions in which financial institutions may disclose an individual’s financial
records, defines the conditions in which government officials may access an individual’s financial
records, and provides a civil cause of action for anyone injured by a violation of the act’s substantive
provisions.” Lopez v. First Union Nat. Bank of Fla., 129 F.3d 1186, 1190 (11th Cir. 1997) (citations
omitted).
Here, the Banks are threatening to turn over, and the Committees are threatening to obtain,
Plaintiffs’ records without complying with the RFPA. The Committees have not followed the RFPA’s
procedures—or even tried to do so. They refuse to even give Plaintiffs copies of the subpoenas, much
less follow the procedures outlined in the statute. And the Committees of course have not certified to
the Banks that they followed the RFPA’s procedures. Plaintiffs are thus entitled to an injunction
prohibiting the Banks from disclosing, and the Committees from obtaining, their financial records.
Congress is not exempt from the procedures outlined in the RFPA. As Defendant Deutsche
Bank wrote to Chairwoman Waters in June 2017:
The Right to Financial Privacy Act (“RFPA”) specifically governs how financial institutions like Deutsche Bank must respond to information requests from the federal government. The legislation was intended to “protect and preserve the confidential relationship between [financial] institutions and their customers and the constitutional rights of those customers….” Right to Financial Privacy Act, H.R. 9142, 95th Cong., Sec. 2(b) (1977). You suggest that the law does not apply to Members of Congress because “[t]he legislative branch has never been considered an ‘agency or department’” and therefore is not a “government authority” within the meaning of the statute. However, Congress itself has given the term “department” a far broader definition than suggested by your letter. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 6 (“The term ‘department’ means one of the executive departments enumerated in section 1 of Title 5, unless the context shows that such term was intended to describe the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the government.”). Here, Congress’s desire to protect customer privacy through the passage of the RFPA compels the conclusion that the term “department” should not be given a narrow reading.
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6/29/17 Ltr. from Deutsche Bank to Reps. Waters et al., bit.ly/2XOViaH. Plaintiffs couldn’t agree more.
Several other features of the RFPA confirm Deutsche Bank’s conclusion that the statute applies to Congress. The RFPA broadly prohibits banks from disclosing information to “any Government authority” or “any agency or department of the United States.” 12 U.S.C. §§3403(a), 3401(3) (emphasis added); see Ali v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 552 U.S. 214, 219 (2008) (“[T]he word ‘any’ has an expansive meaning, that is, ‘one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind.’”). Congress is commonly referred to as a “department” of the federal government. See, e.g., Calif. Motor Transp. Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U.S. 508, 510 (1972); Nixon v. Admin’r of Gen. Servs., 433 U.S. 425, 443 (1977). And the Congress that enacted the RFPA acknowledged that it covered the judicial and legislative branches—not just the executive branch—which is why it expressly exempted grand-jury subpoenas, §3413(i), and certain congressional subpoenas, §3412(d).
In short, the RFPA covers these Congressional subpoenas, the Committees made no attempt to comply with the statute, and so the Banks have no authority to disclose Plaintiffs’ confidential information. Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their RFPA claim. III. Alternatively, Plaintiffs have raised serious questions and the balance of hardships
tips decidedly in their favor. At the very least, Plaintiffs’ claims raise “‘sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation’” and the “balance of hardships tip[] decidedly toward … preliminary relief.’” Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35. The Eastland case is directly on point. There, a congressional committee subpoenaed the plaintiff’s bank for “records pertaining to or involving the [plaintiff’s] account or accounts.” 488 F.2d at 1254. The plaintiff sued the bank and several congressional defendants for a declaration that the subpoena was unenforceable and for an injunction prohibiting the defendants from enforcing or complying with it. Id. at 1254-56. When the district court denied a TRO, the D.C. Circuit reversed and stayed the subpoena’s enforcement. See id. at 1256. The
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“decisive element” favoring a stay, the D.C. Circuit explained, was the fact that “unless a stay is granted this case will be mooted, and there is likelihood, that irreparable harm will be suffered by [plaintiff when the subpoena’s due date arrives].” Id. The court added that the stay was warranted because the case raised “serious constitutional questions that require more time” and issues that are “of such significance that they require” further “consideration and deliberation.” Id. When the district court then denied a preliminary injunction on remand, the D.C. Circuit reversed again and entered another stay. See id. at 1257. The D.C. Circuit reiterated that the district court needed to fully consider the merits of plaintiff’s claims on final judgment to “ensure” that the case “is determined with the best available perspective, both as to the underlying evidence and the appraisal thereof by the District Judge.” Id. at 1257.
This Court should follow Eastland. Here too, Plaintiffs face “irreparable harm” if they do not receive interim relief before the subpoena’s due date. Id. at 1256. And here too, Plaintiffs raise “serious constitutional questions” that should be resolved once there has been full merits briefing, oral argument, and this Court’s “best available perspective” after thoughtful “consideration and deliberation.” Id. at 1256-57. If anything, the constitutional questions raised in this case—overbroad attempts by Congress to conduct law-enforcement investigations into the personal finances of a sitting President, his family, and his businesses—are far more serious and important than the questions in Eastland. Thus, the fact that Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if the subpoenas are not stayed and the Banks turn over Plaintiffs’ information should be “decisive.” Id. at 1257.
Also like Eastland, the balance of harms in this case tips decidedly in favor of a preliminary injunction. For the Banks, they will actually benefit from an order preserving the status quo. The Banks currently face a difficult choice: ignore the subpoena and risk adverse action by Congress, or comply
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with the subpoena and risk liability to Plaintiffs under the RFPA.2 Only a preliminary injunction resolves this dilemma: It allows an “orderly resolution of [the] disputed question” by permitting the Banks to “merely await a court ruling on [Plaintiffs’] challenge.” AT&T, 567 F.2d at 129. A preliminary injunction would recognize and enforce the principle that, when a client “challenges the enforceability of a subpoena,” the third-party custodian “c[an] refuse to produce the documents, thereby allowing [the client to litigate], without violating its obligation to comply with enforceable subpoenas.” United States v. Deloitte LLP, 610 F.3d 129, 142 (D.C. Cir. 2010) (emphasis added).
As for the Committees, they have no urgent need for the subpoenaed documents. “[T]he events at issue are already several years old and if the [defendants] prevail[] in this litigation, the records will ultimately be produced.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 514 F. Supp. 2d 7, 11 (D.D.C. 2007). Indeed, the vast majority of documents that the Committees seek predate the President’s nomination—let alone his election. The Committees’ “interest in receiving the records immediately” thus “poses no threat of irreparable harm to them.” Shapiro v. DOJ, 2016 WL 3023980, at *7 (D.D.C. May 25, 2016) (quoting John Doe Agency, 488 U.S. at 1309 (Marshall, J., in chambers)); see EPIC v. DOJ, 15 F. Supp. 3d 32, 47 (D.D.C. 2014) (explaining that a “desire to have [the documents] in an expedited fashion without more is insufficient to constitute irreparable harm”). Interim relief only “postpones the moment of disclosure … by whatever period of time may be required” to finally adjudicate the merits of Plaintiffs’ claim. Providence Journal, 595 F.2d at 890; see Fund For Animals v. Norton, 281 F. Supp. 2d 209, 222 (D.D.C. 2003) (rejecting government’s claim of harm in having its action “delayed for a short period of time pending resolution of this case on the merits”); 22nd Avenue Station, Inc. v. City of Minneapolis, 429 F.Supp.2d 1144, 1152 (D. Minn. 2006) (similar); Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Ltd. v. United States, 2014 WL 12838793, at *3 (Fed. Cl. 2014) (similar). In any event,
2 The Banks also risk liability for violating the privacy protections in the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. §6801 et seq.
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whatever interest the Committees might have in immediately obtaining these documents pales in comparison to Plaintiffs’ interest in securing judicial review before the status quo is forever altered.
Last, the public interest weighs strongly in favor of preserving the status quo. Congress simply “does not have an interest” in violating the Constitution or the RFPA, Amarin Pharma, Inc. v. FDA, 119 F. Supp. 3d 196, 237 (S.D.N.Y. 2015), and the public “clearly” has “an interest in the government maintaining procedures that comply with constitutional requirements,” ACORN v. FEMA, 463 F. Supp. 2d 26, 36 (D.D.C. 2006) (citing O’Donnell Const. Co. v. District of Columbia, 963 F.2d 420, 429 (D.C. Cir. 1992)). The Constitution entrusts this Court to determine whether Congress has “assumed a power which could only be properly exercised by another branch of the government.” Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 192. Denying the interim relief that Plaintiffs seek would “abdicate the responsibility placed by the Constitution upon the judiciary to insure that the Congress” has not acted illegitimately in issuing these sweeping subpoenas for the President’s confidential financial documents. Watkins 354 U.S. at 198-99. Allowing the Committees to evade judicial review is not in the public interest.
CONCLUSION For all these reasons, Plaintiffs respectfully ask this Court to enter a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendants from enforcing or complying with the subpoenas until the Court can issue a final judgment.
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Dated: May 3, 2019

Respectfully submitted,

Marc L. Mukasey MUKASEY FRENCHMAN & SKLAROFF LLP 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10177 347-527-3940 marc.mukasey@mukaseylaw.com

s/ Patrick Strawbridge T Patrick Strawbridge CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC Ten Post Office Square 8th Floor South PMB #706 Boston, MA 02109 patrick@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, The Trump Corporation, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, and Trump Acquisition, Corp.

William S. Consovoy Cameron T. Norris CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PARK PLLC 3033 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 700 Arlington, VA 22201 (703) 243-9423 will@consovoymccarthy.com cam@consovoymccarthy.com

Counsel for President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump

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 Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 59 Filed 05/22/19 Page 1 of 2

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
DONALD J. TRUMP; DONALD J. TRUMP, JR.; ERIC TRUMP; IVANKA TRUMP; THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST; THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC.; TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC; DJT HOLDINGS LLC; DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC; TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC; and TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,
Plaintiffs,
– against –
DEUTSCHE BANK AG and CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP.,
Defendants,
– and –
COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Intervenor-Defendants.

5/22/2019
ORDER 19 Civ. 3826 (ER)

Ramos, D.J.:

For the reasons set forth on the record in today’s hearing, Plaintiffs’ motion for a

preliminary injunction is DENIED, Plaintiffs’ motion for a stay pending appeal is DENIED, and

the Committees’ application for consolidation is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is respectfully

directed to terminate the motion, Doc. 26.

It is SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 22, 2019 New York, New York

_________________________ Edgardo Ramos, U.S.D.J.

Case 1:19-cv-03826-ER Document 59 Filed 05/22/19 Page 2 of 2 2

 
 CaCsaes1e:1199--c1v5-4003,8D26o-cEuRmenDto1c9u9m, e1n0t/1603/20F1il9e,d21607/71006/179, PPagaeg1e o1fo1f212

19-1540-cv Donald J. Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG

N.Y.S.D. Case # 19-cv-3826(ER)

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

August Term 2019

Motions filed:

September 11, 2019 September 18, 2019

Motions Decided: October 10, 2019

Docket No. 19‐1540‐cv
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP, JR., ERIC TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,

Oct 10 2019

Plaintiffs ‐ Appellants,

v.

DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION,

Defendants ‐ Appellees,

COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Intervenor Defendants – Appellees,

1
CERTIFIED COPY ISSUED ON 10/10/2019

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, POLITICO LLC, WP CO. LLC, DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., REUTERS NEWS & MEDIA INC.,
Movants.1
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
Before: NEWMAN, HALL, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.
Motions to intervene and to unseal unredacted letter sent August 27, 2019, by Deutsche Bank AG to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and filed under seal.
Motions to intervene GRANTED; motions to unseal DENIED.
Patrick Strawbridge, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Boston, MA (William S. Consovoy, Cameron T. Norris, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Arlington, VA, Marc Lee Mukasey, Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP, New York, NY) for Plaintiffs‐Appellants Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp.
Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. (Todd B. Tatelman, Dep. General Counsel, Megan Barbero, Josephine Morse, Assoc. General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington,
1 Movants are added to this opinion’s caption for the sole purpose of ruling on this motion. The official caption will remain unchanged.
2

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D.C.), for Intervenor Defendants‐Appellees Committee on Financial Services and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States House of Representatives.
Parvin D. Moyne, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, New York, NY (Thomas C. Moyer, Raphael A. Prober, Steven R. Ross, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Washington, D.C.), for Defendant‐Appellee Deutsche Bank AG.
James A. Murphy, Murphy & McGonigle, PC, New York, NY (Steven D. Feldman, Murphy & McGonigle, PC, New York, NY), for Defendant‐Appellee Capital One Financial Corporation.
Jacquelyn Schell, Ballard Spahr LLP, New York, NY (Jay Ward Brown, Ballard Spahr LLP, New York, NY) for Movants The Associated Press, Cable News Network, Inc., The New York Times Company, POLITICO LLC, WP Co. LLC, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., and Reuters News & Media Inc.
JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge:
This opinion considers motions by several news organizations to intervene
in a pending appeal and to unseal an unredacted letter filed in this Court on
August 27, 2019, under seal in that appeal. See Trump v. Deutsche Bank, AG, No. 19‒
1540 (2d Cir. argued Aug. 23, 2019). The letter was filed by Deutsche Bank AG in
3

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an appeal from an Order denying a preliminary injunction sought by President Donald J. Trump, members of his family, and several affiliated entities (“Appellants”) to prevent compliance with subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corporation by two committees of the United States House of Representatives. The subpoenas seek production of numerous documents, including tax returns. The appeal is still pending. Unsealing the letter is sought to learn the redacted names of taxpayers whose income tax returns are in Deutsche Bank’s possession. Appellants in the pending appeal and Deutsche Bank oppose the motion.
The motions to intervene are GRANTED; the motions for unsealing are DENIED.
Background On April 11, 2019, the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (collectively, “Committees”) issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Capital One (collectively, “Banks”), seeking production of numerous documents, including tax returns of several persons and entities listed in the subpoenas. On the appeal from the Order denying Appellants’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent compliance
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with the subpoenas, none of the briefs filed by the parties indicated which, if any, tax returns within the coverage of the subpoenas were in the possession of either of the Banks. In fact, none of the parties’ briefs mentioned tax returns, either to oppose or require their disclosure.
At oral argument on August 23, we asked counsel for each of the Banks whether it had in its possession any tax returns within the coverage of the subpoenas. Counsel for Deutsche Bank initially replied that he could not answer the question, but, after some colloquy with the panel, agreed to submit a letter of further explanation. Counsel for Capital One took the same position. After oral argument, on August 26 we ordered each of the Banks to state “whether it has in its possession any tax returns of any of the individuals or entities named or referred to (directly or indirectly) in paragraph 1 of the subpoenas” and, if either bank believed “in good faith that all or part of its response to this Order is entitled to confidentiality, it shall set forth the basis of such belief in its response.” No. 19‒ 1540, Dkt. No. 156 (Aug. 26, 2019). On August 27, we entered an order informing the Banks that if they filed an unredacted letter under seal, a redacted version of the letter served on the Committees should be served on Appellants and filed on the public docket. See id., Dkt. No. 157.
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On August 27, the Banks filed responses. Capital One stated that it had no
tax returns sought by the subpoena it had received.2 Deutsche Bank filed a
redacted version of a letter3 and also filed under seal an unredacted version of the
letter.4 The redacted version reported that Deutsche Bank had tax returns
responsive to the subpoenas, redacted the names of the taxpayers who had filed
those returns, and provided arguments to support the redaction of those names.
The sealed unredacted version of Deutsche Bank’s letter provided the taxpayers’
names.
The filing of Deutsche Bank’s unredacted letter under seal prompted several
news organizations (“Media Coalition”) to file a motion on Sept. 11 seeking leave
to intervene and to unseal the unredacted version of the letter.5 On Sept. 18, other
news organizations filed a similar motion.6 Also on Sept. 18, we ordered the parties
to the underlying appeal to file responses to the motions to intervene and unseal.
2 See Letter from James A. Murphy to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 162 (Aug. 27, 2019).
3 See Letter from Raphael A. Prober to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 161 (Aug. 27, 2019).
4 See Letter from Raphael A. Prober to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 165 (Aug. 27, 2019).
5 Motion to Intervene and to Unseal Judicial Records, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 168 (Sept. 11, 2019). The motion was filed by The Associated Press, Cable News Network, Inc., The New York Times Company, POLITICO LLC, and WP Co. LLC.
6 Motion of Additional Media Entities to Intervene and to Unseal Judicial Records, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 181 (Sept. 18, 2019). The motion was filed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Reuters News & Media Inc.
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On Sept. 27, responses were received from Appellants, Deutsche Bank, Capital One, and the Committees.
The initial arguments of the movants are set forth in a memorandum accompanying the Media Coalition’s motion to intervene and unseal. With respect to the movants’ request to intervene, the parties to the underlying appeal either take no position or have no objection.7 With respect to the movants’ request to unseal, Appellants and Deutsche Bank oppose unsealing,8 the Committees oppose unsealing to the extent that the named individuals or entities are not parties,9 and Capital One takes no position.10 The movants have supplemented their initial arguments with a memorandum replying to Appellants’ and Deutsche Bank’s opposition to unsealing (“Movants’ Reply Memorandum”).11
7 See Motions to Intervene and Unseal, Certification pursuant to Local Rule 27.1(b), No. 19‒1540, Dkt. Nos. 168, 181 (Sept. 11, 2019).
8 See Plaintiffs‒Appellants’ Opposition to Motion to Unseal, No.19‒1540, Dkt. No. 186 (Sept. 27, 2019); Response of Deutsche Bank AG to Media Coalition’s Dow Jones’, and Reuters’ Motions to Intervene and Unseal Judicial Records, No. 19‒1549, Dkt. No. 184 (Sept. 27, 2019).
9 See Letter from Douglas N. Letter to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 190 (Sept. 27, 2019).
10 See Letter from James A. Murphy to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 188 (Sept. 27, 2019).
11 Media Coalition’s Reply in Support of Its Motion to Intervene and to Unseal Judicial Records, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 193 (Oct. 4, 2019).
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Discussion I. Intervention
“Representatives of the press . . . ‘must be given an opportunity to be heard on the question of their exclusion’” from a court proceeding, Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 609 n.25 (1982) (quoting Gannett Co. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 401 (1979) (Powell, J., concurring)), and we have recognized a similar right of news media to intervene in this Court to seek unsealing of documents filed in a court proceeding, see Roe v. United States, Nos. 10‒2905, 11‒479, Dkt. No. 409 (2d Cir. Apr. 10, 2017) (granting motion of Forbes Media LLC and one of its editors to intervene). We will grant the motions to the extent that they seek intervention. II. Unsealing
Sealing documents filed with a court implicates a common law and a qualified First Amendment right of access to such documents. See Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41, 48 (2d Cir. 2019); Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119‒20 (2d Cir. 2006); Hartford Courant Co. v. Pellegrino, 380 F.3d 83, 91 (2d Cir. 2004). The initial issue on a request to unseal a document filed in a court is whether it is a “judicial document.” See Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 119.
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“[T]he mere filing of a paper or document with the court is insufficient to render that paper a judicial document subject to the right of public access.” United States v. Amodeo, 44 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir. 1995). “In order to be designated a judicial document, ‘the item filed must be relevant to the performance of the judicial function and useful in the judicial process.’” Lugosch, 534 F.3d at 119 (quoting Amodeo, 44 F.3d at 145).
Usually determination of whether a sealed item is a judicial document is made with respect to the entirety of the item; the news media want the whole document unsealed, and the proponent of sealing wants it to remain sealed. In this case, however, the sealed letter from Deutsche Bank combines two names that have been redacted from the letter with an argument supporting redaction. The argument portion of the letter is already on the public docket in the form of the redacted version of the letter. So the issue is narrowed to whether the two redacted names constitute a “judicial document.”
The redaction of these two names presents at least a potential issue as to whether they are relevant to the performance of a judicial function. In considering that issue, we note that none of the parties briefing the underlying appeal thought
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that the Court needed to know whether Deutsche Bank had any tax returns within the coverage of the subpoenas or the names of any such taxpayers filing such returns. Their briefs did not indicate that such information was relevant to any issue we needed to decide in the appeal. Nevertheless, Media Coalition contends in its initial submission that the information in the sealed letter “is analogous to documents submitted for consideration on a motion for summary judgment.”12 Documents of that type are generally relevant to a decision on such a motion. “Our precedents indicate that documents submitted to a court for its consideration in a summary judgment motion are‒‒as a matter of law‒‒judicial documents to which a strong presumption of access attaches, under both the common law and the First Amendment.” Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 121. All such information will usually be relevant to a court determining whether there is a “genuine dispute as to any material fact,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), or whether a party “is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” id.
In the pending appeal, the basic issue is whether Appellants are entitled to preliminarily enjoin compliance with the subpoenas, and, as to that broad issue, the two names are not necessarily relevant. With one exception, the identity of the
12 Motion to Intervene and to Unseal Judicial Records at 9, No. 19‒1540, Dkt. No. 168 (Sept. 11, 2019).
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taxpayers whose returns are within the coverage of the subpoenas will not be relevant to our decision on review of the Order denying an injunction. That exception would arise if one of the taxpayers is the President, who, it should be noted, is one of the Appellants seeking the injunction. Even though the President is not suing in his official capacity, as his complaint explicitly acknowledges and no claim of executive privilege has been asserted in the underlying appeal, disclosure of a president’s tax returns might raise an issue meriting consideration distinct from that given to disclosure of the returns of other taxpayers.
However, the unredacted letter from Deutsche Bank has removed that potential issue from the appeal because that letter reports that the only tax returns it has for individuals or entities named in the subpoenas are not those of the President. In light of that response, information in the sealed letter, i.e., the identity of the two taxpayers whose tax returns Deutsche Bank has, is not relevant to any issue we need to decide. The fact that Deutsche Bank has their tax returns adds nothing to the arguments of the parties in the pending appeal.
The Movants, in their reply memorandum, no longer contend that the sealed information is analogous to documents submitted on a motion for summary judgment. Their latest filing contends that the sealed information qualifies as a
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“judicial document” because “the right of access attaches when documents are submitted to the court for consideration, regardless of whether or not the court at some point thereafter relies upon them . . . .“ Movants’ Reply Memorandum at 4 (emphasis in original). We agree that court reliance is not the test. “[T]he proper inquiry is whether the documents are relevant to the performance of the judicial function, not whether they were relied upon.” Brown, 929 F.3d at 50.
Because the sealed letter (more precisely, the only portion of the letter that is sealed) is not relevant to any issue in the underlying appeal, it is not a “judicial document” within the meaning of the decisions requiring unsealing of documents filed with a court. Nor is it a record of any court action, which, absent special circumstances, would be available for public scrutiny.
Conclusion Accordingly, the motions to intervene are GRANTED, and the motions for unsealing are DENIED.
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 Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

943 F.3d 627
Editor’s Note: Additions are indicated by Text and deletions by Text.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Donald J. TRUMP, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump
Revocable Trust, Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT
Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp.,
Plaintiffs - Appellants, v.
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, Capital One Financial Corporation, Defendants - Appellees,
Committee on Financial Services of the United States House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States House of Representatives, Intervenor
Defendants - Appellees.
Docket No. 19-1540-cv |
August Term 2019 |
Argued: August 23, 2019 |
Decided: December 3, 2019
Synopsis Background: President, in his individual capacity, his family members, and affiliated entities brought action seeking declaratory judgment that subpoenas issued to banks by House of Representatives committees seeking their financial records were invalid and injunction quashing subpoenas. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Edgardo Ramos, J., 2019 WL 2204898, denied plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction, and for stay pending appeal. Plaintiffs filed interlocutory appeal.
Holdings: The Court of Appeals, Newman, Senior Circuit Judge, held that:
plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm to their privacy interests if banks complied with subpoenas;
1

committees were not required to comply with Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA) before seeking records;
disclosure of income tax returns of President’s family members or affiliated entities would not violate Internal Revenue Code’s general requirement of confidentiality;
subpoenas were related to committees’ valid legislative purposes;
interests of Congress in pursuing investigations for which subpoenas were issued substantially overbalanced privacy interests invaded by disclosure of financial documents;
district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to order parties to undertake additional negotiations to narrow scope of subpoenas;
committees were not entitled to require banks to disclose sensitive personal information;
balance of hardships did not weigh decidedly in plaintiffs’ favor; and
committees’ interests in pursuing their legislative function was far more significant public interest than whatever public interest inhered in avoiding risk of President’s distraction.
Affirmed in part and remanded in part.
Livingston, Circuit Judge, concurred in part, dissented in part, and filed opinion.
Procedural Posture(s): Interlocutory Appeal; Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
*631 Appeal from the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Edgardo Ramos, District Judge).
Attorneys and Law Firms
Patrick Strawbridge, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Boston, MA (William S. Consovoy, Cameron T. Norris, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Arlington, VA, Marc Lee Mukasey, Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP, New York, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiffs-Appellants Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, Trump Acquisition, Corp.
Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. (Todd B. Tatelman, Dep. General Counsel, Megan Barbero, Josephine Morse, Assoc. General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., on the brief), for Intervenor Defendants-Appellees Committee on Financial Services and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States House of Representatives.
Parvin D. Moyne, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, New York, NY (Thomas C. Moyer, Raphael A. Prober, Steven R. Ross, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Washington, D.C.), for Defendant-Appellee Deutsche Bank AG.
James A. Murphy, Murphy & McGonigle, PC, New York, NY (Steven D. Feldman, Murphy & McGonigle, PC, New York, NY), for Defendant-Appellee Capital One Financial Corporation.
(Dennis Fan, Mark R. Freeman, Scott R. McIntosh, Appellate Staff Attys., Joseph H. Hunt, Asst. Atty. General, Hashim M. Mooppan, Dep. Asst. Atty. General, Civil Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae United States of America.)
(Brianne J. Gorod, Elizabeth B. Wydra, Brian R. Frazelle, Ashwin P. Phatak, Constitutional Accountability Center, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae Constitutional Accountability Center, in support of Intervenor Defendants-Appellees.)
Before: NEWMAN, HALL, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.
Opinion
JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge:
*632 This appeal raises an important issue concerning the investigative authority of two committees of the United States House of Representatives and the protection of privacy due the President of the United States suing in his individual, not official, capacity with respect to financial records. The specific issue is the lawfulness of three subpoenas issued by the House Committee on Financial
2

Services and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (collectively, “Committees” or “Intervenors”) to two banks, Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corporation (“Capital One”) (collectively, “Banks”). The subpoenas issued by each of the Committees to Deutsche Bank (“Deutsche Bank Subpoenas”) seek identical records of President Donald J. Trump (“Lead Plaintiff”), members of his family, The Trump Organization, Inc. (“Trump Organization”), and several affiliated entities (collectively, “Plaintiffs” or “Appellants”). The subpoena issued by the Committee on Financial Services to Capital One (“Capital One Subpoena”) seeks records of the Trump Organization and several affiliated entities. The Capital One Subpoena does not list the Lead Plaintiff or members of his family by name, but might seek their records in the event they are a principal, director, shareholder, or officer of any of the listed entities.
The issue of the lawfulness of the three subpoenas arises on an expedited interlocutory appeal from the May 22, 2019, Order of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Edgardo Ramos, District Judge) (“Order”) denying Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Banks’ compliance with the subpoenas and denying Plaintiffs’ motion for a stay pending appeal.
We affirm the Order in substantial part to the extent that it denied a preliminary injunction and order prompt compliance with the subpoenas, except that the case is remanded to a limited extent for implementation of the procedure set forth in this opinion concerning the nondisclosure of sensitive personal information and a limited opportunity for Appellants to object to disclosure of other specific documents within the coverage of those paragraphs of the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas listed in this opinion. We dismiss as moot the appeal from the Order to the extent *633 that it denied a stay pending appeal because the Committees agreed not to require compliance with the subpoenas pending the appeal, once the appeal was expedited.
In her partial dissent, Judge Livingston prefers a total remand of the case for “creation of a record that is sufficient more closely to examine the serious questions that the Plaintiffs have raised,” Part Diss. Op. at 697, and to “afford the parties an opportunity to negotiate,” id. at 680. We discuss at pages 660–62 of this opinion not only why such a remand is not warranted but why it would also run counter to the instruction the Supreme Court has given to courts considering attempts to have the Judicial Branch interfere with a lawful exercise of the

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
congressional authority of the Legislative Branch.
Background
The subpoenas. The case concerns three subpoenas issued by committees of the United States House of Representatives. On April 11 of this year, the Committee on Financial Services and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence each issued identical subpoenas to Deutsche Bank, seeking a broad range of financial records of Donald J. Trump, members of his family, and affiliated entities. On the same date, the Committee on Financial Services issued a subpoena of narrower scope to Capital One Financial Corporation.1 We detail the scope of the subpoenas in Part II(C).
Litigation procedure. On April 29, Donald J. Trump, his three oldest children, the Trump Organization, and six entities affiliated with either the Lead Plaintiff or the Trump Organization2 filed a complaint in the District Court seeking a declaratory judgment that the subpoenas are invalid and an injunction “quashing” the subpoenas and enjoining compliance with them.3 On May 3, the Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction,4 and the District Court granted the Committees’ joint motion to intervene.5 The Plaintiffs and the Committees then agreed to an expedited briefing schedule for the motion for a preliminary injunction.6 Deutsche Bank notified the District Court that it took no position on the Plaintiffs’ request for limited expedited discovery,7 and Capital One notified the District Court that it took no position on the Plaintiffs’ request for an order requiring the Committees to provide Plaintiffs with copies of the subpoenas.8
On May 22, the District Court held a hearing on the Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and denied it, reading into the record an extensive opinion.9 On May 24, the Plaintiffs filed a notice of an interlocutory appeal. On May 25, the parties submitted a joint motion to stay proceedings in the District Court pending the *634 appeal,10 which the District Court granted on May 28.11
On May 25, the parties jointly moved in this Court for an expedited appeal,12 which was granted on May 31.13 Thereafter, the Banks informed us that they take no position with respect to the appeal.14 Nevertheless, we requested counsel for the Banks to attend the oral argument to be available to respond to any questions the panel might have.15 We requested the Committees to
3

provide unredacted copies of the Deutsche Bank subpoenas, which we have received under seal. We also inquired of the United States Solicitor General whether the United States would like to submit its view on the issues raised on this appeal.16 On August 19, the United States submitted a brief as amicus curiae, urging reversal of the District Court’s order denying a preliminary injunction,17 to which the Committees and Appellants responded on August 21.18 On August 23, we heard oral argument.
The oral argument precipitated letters from the parties to this Court concerning tax returns sought pursuant to the subpoenas. These letters and subsequent procedural developments are discussed in Part II(B).
Discussion
We emphasize at the outset that the issues raised by this litigation do not concern a dispute between the Legislative and Executive Branches. As to such a dispute, as occurs where the Justice Department, suing on behalf of the United States, seeks an injunction to prevent a third party from responding to a congressional committee’s subpoena seeking documents of a department or agency of the Executive Branch, see, e.g., United States v. AT&T, 567 F.2d 121, 122 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (“AT&T II”), the Judicial Branch proceeds with caution, see id. at 123 (seeking to “avoid a resolution that might disturb the balance of power between the two branches”), sometimes encountering issues of justiciability in advance of the merits, see United States v. AT&T, 551 F.2d 384, 390 (D.C. Cir. 1976) (“AT&T I”). Although the challenged subpoenas seek financial records of the person who is the President, no documents are sought reflecting any actions taken by Donald J. Trump acting in his official capacity as President. Indeed, the Complaint explicitly states that “President Trump brings this suit solely in his capacity as a private citizen.” Complaint ¶ 13. Appellants underscore this point by declining in this Court to assert as barriers to compliance with the subpoenas any privilege that *635 might be available to the President in his official capacity, such as executive privilege. See Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt, ––– U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 1485, 1499, 203 L.Ed.2d 768 (2019) (citing United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 705–06, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974)). The protection sought is the protection from compelled disclosure alleged to be beyond the constitutional authority of the Committees, a protection that, if validly

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
asserted, would be available to any private individual. See Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109, 79 S.Ct. 1081, 3 L.Ed.2d 1115 (1959); Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 77 S.Ct. 1173, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273 (1957). For this reason, in the remainder of this opinion we will refer to President Trump as the “Lead Plaintiff”; the formal title “President Trump” might mislead some to think that his official records are sought, and the locution “Mr. Trump,” sometimes used in this litigation, might seem to some disrespectful.
Also at the outset, we note that there is no dispute that Plaintiffs had standing in the District Court to challenge the lawfulness of the Committees’ subpoenas by seeking injunctive relief against the Banks as custodians of the documents. See United States Servicemen’s Fund v. Eastland, 488 F.2d 1252, 1260 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (“[T]he plaintiffs have no alternative means to vindicate their rights.”) (italics omitted), rev’d on other grounds without questioning plaintiffs’ standing, 421 U.S. 491, 95 S.Ct. 1813, 44 L.Ed.2d 324 (1975).
We review denial of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion, see, e.g., Ragbir v. Homan, 923 F.3d 53, 62 (2d Cir. 2019), but our review is appropriately more exacting where the action sought to be enjoined concerns the President, even though he is suing in his individual, not official, capacity, in view of “ ‘[t]he high respect that is owed to the office of the Chief Executive’ ” that “ ‘should inform the conduct of [an] entire proceeding,’ ” Cheney v. United States District Court, 542 U.S. 367, 385, 124 S.Ct. 2576, 159 L.Ed.2d 459 (2004) (first brackets in original) (quoting Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636, 137 L.Ed.2d 945 (1997)).
I. Preliminary Injunction Standard In this Circuit, we have repeatedly said that district courts may grant a preliminary injunction where a plaintiff demonstrates irreparable harm and meets either of two standards: “(a) a likelihood of success on the merits, or (b) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation, and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in the movant’s favor.”19 *636 Kelly v. Honeywell International, Inc., 933 F.3d 173, 184 (2d Cir. 2019) (quotation marks deleted); Jackson Dairy, Inc. v. H.P. Hood & Sons, Inc., 596 F.2d 70, 72 (2d Cir. 1979). The Committees contend that the likelihood-of-success standard applies; Appellants
4

contend that the serious-questions standard applies.20
*637 With respect to irreparable harm, a factor required under either standard, Appellants contend that compliance with the subpoenas will cause them such harm. In the District Court, the Committees took the position that whether compliance would cause Appellants irreparable harm would depend on whether the Committees would make public the documents obtained.21 The District Court ruled that compliance would cause irreparable harm because “plaintiffs have an interest in keeping their records private from everyone, including congresspersons,” and “the committees have not committed one way or the other to keeping plaintiffs’ records confidential from the public once received.” J. App’x 122–23. We agree.
The issue therefore becomes whether Appellants seeking a preliminary injunction had to meet (1) the more rigorous standard of a likelihood of success on the merits or (2) the less rigorous standard of sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation plus a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in their favor.22
With slightly different formulations, we have repeatedly stated that the serious-questions standard cannot be used to preliminarily enjoin governmental action. See Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc. v. Perales, 878 F.2d 577, 580 (2d Cir. 1989) (applying more rigorous likelihood-of-success standard in affirming denial of preliminary injunction against “governmental action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme”); Union Carbide Agricultural Products Co. v. Costle, 632 F.2d 1014, 1018 (2d Cir. 1980) (same, with respect to “governmental action that is in the public interest”); Medical Society of State of New York v. Toia, 560 F.2d 535, 538 (2d Cir. 1977) (same, where “interim relief [enjoining governmental action] may adversely affect the public interest”); see also Able v. United States, 44 F.3d 128, 131 (2d Cir. 1995) (“As long as the action to be enjoined is taken pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme, even government action with respect to one litigant requires application of the ‘likelihood of success’ standard.”).
*638 Nevertheless, in two decisions, we have affirmed preliminary injunctions against government action issued using the less rigorous serious-questions standard. See Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. McNary, 969 F.2d 1326, 1342 (2d Cir. 1992) (officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service enjoined), judgment vacated as

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moot sub nom. Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 918, 113 S.Ct. 3028, 125 L.Ed.2d 716 (1993); Mitchell v. Cuomo, 748 F.2d 804, 806–08 (2d Cir. 1984) (state prison officials enjoined). We have sometimes affirmed decisions that issued or denied preliminary injunctions against government action using both standards. See Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. v. Dep’t of Navy, 836 F.2d 760, 763 (2d Cir. 1988) (preliminary injunction denied under both standards); Patton v. Dole, 806 F.2d 24, 28–30 (2d Cir. 1986) (preliminary injunction granted under both standards); Patchogue Nursing Center v. Bowen, 797 F.2d 1137, 1141–42 (2d Cir. 1986) (preliminary injunction denied under both standards).
Haitian Centers noted that “the ‘likelihood of success’ prong need not always be followed merely because a movant seeks to enjoin government action.” 969 F.2d at 1339 (emphasis added). Then, building on the statement in Plaza Health Laboratories that the less rigorous standard may not be used to enjoin “governmental action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme,” 878 F.2d at 580 (emphasis added), Haitian Centers noted that “no party has an exclusive claim on the public interest,” 969 F.2d at 1339. That point influenced our later decision in Time Warner Cable of New York City L.P. v. Bloomberg L.P., 118 F.3d 917 (2d Cir. 1997), where, noting that “there are public interest concerns on both sides” of the litigation, id. at 923, we said that the serious-questions standard “would be applicable,” id. at 924, even though we ultimately decided the case under the likelihood-of-success standard, see id.
In Able, we noted that the government action exception to the use of the serious-questions standard “reflects the idea that governmental policies implemented through legislation or regulations developed through presumptively reasoned democratic processes are entitled to a higher degree of deference and should not be enjoined lightly,” 44 F.3d at 131, and that the likelihood-of-success standard was appropriate in that case “where the full play of the democratic process involving both the legislative and executive branches has produced a policy in the name of the public interest embodied in a statute and implementing regulations,” id. We also pointed out that Haitian Centers had approved use of the serious-questions standard to challenge action taken pursuant to a “policy formulated solely by the executive branch.” Id. Based on these statements, Appellants contend that only the serious-questions standard applies to challenge any action “taken pursuant to a policy formulated by one branch.” Reply Br. for
5

Appellants at 3 (quotation marks and brackets omitted).
We think that argument fails by endeavoring to make a requirement out of the sentences we have quoted from Able. The fact that legislation developed by both branches of the federal government is entitled to a higher degree of deference does not mean that only such action is entitled to the deference reflected in the likelihood-of-success standard. The Supreme Court has said that a high degree of deference should be accorded to actions taken solely by Congress, see United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41, 46, 73 S.Ct. 543, 97 L.Ed. 770 (1953) (admonishing courts to “tread warily” “[w]henever constitutional limits upon the investigative power of Congress have to be drawn”), and we have often approved *639 application of the more rigorous likelihood-of-success standard to enjoin action taken by units of government with far less authority than the combined force of the national Legislative and Executive Branches. For example, we have ruled that the more rigorous likelihood-of-success standard was applicable when a preliminary injunction was sought to prohibit a municipal agency from enforcing a regulation, see Central Rabbinical Congress of U.S. and Canada v. New York City Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 763 F.3d 183, 192 (2d Cir. 2014); to prohibit New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission from enforcing changes to lease rates, Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade v. City of New York, 615 F.3d 152, 156 (2d Cir. 2010); to require one branch of a state legislature to undo its expulsion of a state senator, see Monserrate v. New York State Senate, 599 F.3d 148, 154 (2d Cir. 2010); to prohibit a town from hiring police officers and firefighters, see NAACP v. Town of East Haven, 70 F.3d 219, 223 (2d Cir. 1995); to prohibit the Metropolitan Transit Authority from implementing a staff reduction plan, see Molloy v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 94 F.3d 808, 811 (2d Cir. 1996); to prohibit the New York City Transit Authority from increasing subway and bus fares, see New York Urban League, Inc. v. State of New York, 71 F.3d 1031, 1036 n.7 (2d Cir. 1995); to prohibit New York State’s Department of Social Services from suspending a health–care services provider from participating in the State’s medical assistance program, see Plaza Health Laboratories, 878 F.2d at 580, and to prohibit two commissioners of New York state agencies from enforcing provisions of state law, see Medical Society, 560 F.2d at 538.
In dissent, Judge Livingston questions the significance of decisions such as these on two grounds. First, she suggests that some of them lacked sufficient analysis. See Part. Diss. Op. at 694–95. However, with exceptions not

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relevant here, panels of this Court are bound by the holdings of prior panels, see, e.g., Lotes Co. v. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., 753 F.3d 395, 405 (2d Cir. 2014); Gelman v. Ashcroft, 372 F.3d 495, 499 (2d Cir. 2004), and those holdings are not to be disregarded by any claimed insufficiency of an opinion’s analysis. Second, she suggests that we might have used the more rigorous likelihood-of-success standard in these cases because of federalism concerns. See Part. Diss. Op. at 695–96, n.28. However, none of the eight decisions even hints that federalism concerns influenced the use of the likelihood-of-success standard.
We have not previously had occasion to consider whether enforcement of a congressional committee’s subpoena qualifies as, or is sufficiently analogous to, “governmental action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme,” Plaza Health Laboratories, 878 F.2d at 580, so as to preclude application of the less rigorous serious-questions standard. Facing that issue, we conclude that those seeking to preliminarily enjoin compliance with subpoenas issued by congressional committees exercising, as we conclude in Part II(C), their constitutional and duly authorized power to subpoena documents in aid of both regulatory oversight and consideration of potential legislation must satisfy the more rigorous likelihood-of-success standard. Surely such committees should not be enjoined from accomplishing their tasks under a less rigorous standard than we applied to plaintiffs seeking to preliminarily enjoin state and local units of government in Central Rabbinical Congress, Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, Monserrate, Town of East Haven, Molloy, New York Urban League, Plaza Health Medical Society, discussed above. None of those cases involved implementation *640 of a policy “developed through presumptively reasoned democratic processes” and resulting from “the full play of the democratic process involving both the legislative and executive branches,” which were the elements present in Able, 44 F.3d at 131. Yet in all eight cases, we applied the likelihood-of-success standard. Indeed, in Monserrate we applied the more rigorous standard to a plaintiff seeking to preliminarily enjoin action taken by just one body of a state legislature. We will therefore apply the likelihood-of-success standard to Appellants’ motion for a preliminary injunction in this case.
Before leaving the issue of the applicable preliminary injunction standard, we should reckon with the preliminary injunction standard formulated in 2008 by the Supreme Court in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d
6

249 (2008): “A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Id. at 20, 129 S.Ct. 365. This formulation incorporates both the irreparable injury requirement and the likelihood-of-success requirement from the more rigorous standard we have been using, includes from our less rigorous serious-questions standard a balance of equities (similar to hardships) that tips in favor of the plaintiff (although not including the requirement of sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation nor the requirement that the balance of hardships tips decidedly in the plaintiff’s favor), and adds as a fourth requirement that the injunction is in the public interest.
It is not clear whether the Supreme Court intended courts to require these four components of the Winter standard in all preliminary injunction cases. Winter concerned military operations affecting the national security, testing for submarine detection, and two of the three cases cited to support the Winter formulation also concerned national security issues, Munaf v. Geren, 553 U.S. 674, 128 S.Ct. 2207, 171 L.Ed.2d 1 (2008) (transferring U.S. military prisoners in a foreign country to that country’s government), and Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U.S. 305, 102 S.Ct. 1798, 72 L.Ed.2d 91 (1982) (training the Navy’s bomber pilots). The third case, Amoco Production Co. v. Village of Gambell, 480 U.S. 531, 107 S.Ct. 1396, 94 L.Ed.2d 542 (1987), concerned a matter unrelated to national security––drilling for oil and natural gas.23
*641 In any event, two years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Winter, our Court explained why we did not believe that the Supreme Court had precluded our use of the two preliminary injunction standards that we had used for five decades. See Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 35–38 (2d Cir. 2010). However, Citigroup shed no light on which of those standards was applicable to plaintiffs seeking to preliminarily enjoin governmental action. That case involved a motion by a brokerage firm to preliminarily enjoin a hedge fund from pursuing an arbitration. See id. at 32.
Although we have concluded that the likelihood-of-success standard applies in this case and have determined that Appellants have established irreparable injury, a requirement common to both of our

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preliminary injunction standards and the Supreme Court’s Winter formulation, we will proceed to consider not only whether Appellants have met the governing likelihood-of-success standard but also whether they have satisfied the other requirements in one or more of these three standards: sufficiently serious questions going to the merits of their claims to make them fair ground for litigation, a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in their favor, and the public interest favoring an injunction. We turn first to the merits of their statutory and constitutional claims in order to determine what we regard as the critical issue: likelihood of success.
II. Likelihood of Success
A. Statutory Claim––RFPA Appellants contend that the subpoenas are invalid for failure of the Committees to comply with the Right to Financial Privacy Act (“RFPA” or “Act”), 12 U.S.C. §§ 3401–3423. RFPA prohibits a financial institution’s disclosure of a customer’s financial records to “any Government authority” except in accordance with the Act’s procedural requirements. § 3403(a). The Committees acknowledge noncompliance with those requirements, but contend that RFPA does not apply to them because they are not a “Government authority” within the meaning of section 3403(a). Because the Act defines “Government authority” to mean “any agency or department of the United States, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof,” § 3401(3), the precise statutory issue is whether Congress or one of its committees is an “agency or department of the United States.”
We begin with the plain meaning of “agency or department” at the time RFPA was enacted in 1978. Appellants do not argue that “agency” could possibly refer to Congress; the sole dispute is over the word “department.” Appellants contend that “department” is used in RFPA to mean any of the three branches of government. The Committees, on the other hand, contend that the word is used to mean some component of the Executive Branch.
Contemporary dictionaries support the Committees’ interpretation. See Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1971) (defining “department” as “an
7

administrative division or branch of a national or municipal government”) (emphasis added); Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed. 1979) (defining “department” as “[o]ne of the major administrative divisions of the executive branch of the government usually headed by an officer of cabinet rank; e.g., Department of State”) (emphasis added).
*642 Moreover, other contextual clues in RFPA indicate that neither Congress nor its committees are an “agency or department of the United States” within the meaning of RFPA, and therefore Congress did not subject itself or its committees to the Act. Section 3408 permits a “Government authority” to request financial records “pursuant to a formal written request only if ... the request is authorized by regulations promulgated by the head of the agency or department.” § 3408(2). Congress does not promulgate regulations, and its leadership and that of its committees are not considered the “head” of an “agency or department.” The Supreme Court has stated that “[t]he term ‘head of a Department’ means ... the Secretary in charge of a great division of the [E]xecutive [B]ranch of the government, like the State, Treasury, and War, who is a member of the Cabinet.” Burnap v. United States, 252 U.S. 512, 515, 40 S.Ct. 374, 64 L.Ed. 692 (1920); accord Freytag v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 501 U.S. 868, 886, 111 S.Ct. 2631, 115 L.Ed.2d 764 (1991).
The several mechanisms for obtaining financial records all require that the records sought are “relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry,”24 § 3405(1) (administrative summons or subpoena), § 3407(1) (judicial subpoena), § 3408(3) (formal written request), but, as Appellants correctly point out and the Committees agree, Congress cannot exercise “any of the powers of law enforcement” because “those powers are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary,” Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161, 75 S.Ct. 668, 99 L.Ed. 964 (1955).
RFPA directs the Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”) to determine whether “disciplinary action is warranted against [an] agent or employee” of “any agency or department” found to have willfully violated the Act. § 3417(b). However, OPM is “the lead personnel agency for civilian employees in the [E]xecutive [B]ranch.” United States Dep’t of Air Force v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 952 F.2d 446, 448 (D.C. Cir. 1991). It is highly unlikely that Congress would have directed OPM to take disciplinary action against congressional staff.
RFPA provides civil penalties, including punitive

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damages, for any “agency or department” that violates the Act’s requirements. § 3417(a). It is also highly unlikely that Congress would have subjected itself to such penalties, especially in the absence of a clear indication of an intent to do so.
Although no one of these provisions alone conclusively establishes that RFPA does not apply to Congress, in the aggregate they provide persuasive textual support for that reading of the Act. This conclusion is strongly reinforced by the Act’s legislative history. A draft bill submitted by the Departments of Justice and the Treasury would have explicitly covered access to financial records by Congress, and distinguished Congress from “any agency or department of the United States.”25
*643 The rejection of this provision of the Justice-Treasury proposal by omitting Congress from the enacted definition of “government authority” is strong evidence of a deliberate decision by Congress not to apply the Act to itself. Although the failure of Congress to enact is often an unreliable indication of congressional intent, see Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 632, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993) (“As a general matter, we are reluctant to draw inferences from Congress’ failure to act.”) (quotation marks omitted), the omission of pertinent language from a bill being considered by Congress is far more probative of such intent, especially when the omission is from a draft bill submitted by the Department of Justice, a principal source of proposed legislation.
Appellants present two arguments that Congress and its committees are covered by RFPA’s definitional phrase “agency or department.” First, they point out that in 1955 the Supreme Court ruled a false statement made by a former member of Congress to the Disbursing Office of the House of Representatives was a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 because “department,” as used in section 1001, “was meant to describe the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Government.” United States v. Bramblett, 348 U.S. 503, 509, 75 S.Ct. 504, 99 L.Ed. 594 (1955) (emphasis added).
The Committees respond that an interpretation of “department” in section 1001 is not an authoritative basis for interpreting “department” in RFPA and that the Supreme Court overruled Bramblett in Hubbard v. United States, 514 U.S. 695, 715, 115 S.Ct. 1754, 131 L.Ed.2d 779 (1995), after characterizing its reading of “department” as “seriously flawed,” *644 id. at 702, 115 S.Ct. 1754. To this latter point, Appellants point out that courts “assume that Congress is aware of existing law
8

when it passes legislation,” Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19, 32, 111 S.Ct. 317, 112 L.Ed.2d 275 (1990), and “was aware of ... the judicial background against which it was legislating,” DeKalb County Pension Fund v. Transocean Ltd., 817 F.3d 393, 409–10 (2d Cir. 2016) (“DeKalb”) (brackets and quotation marks omitted), and that the Congress that enacted RFPA in 1978 is assumed to be aware of Bramblett and obviously did not legislate in light of Hubbard, decided in 1995.
We acknowledge the assumption that Congress legislates with awareness of “existing law,” Miles, 498 U.S. at 32, 111 S.Ct. 317, and the relevant “judicial background,” DeKalb, 817 F.3d at 409. The validity of that assumption, however, depends in large part on the context in which it is invoked. Miles applied the assumption interpreting the damages provision of the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. app. § 688. Noting that the Jones Act incorporated the recovery provisions of the older Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), the Supreme Court was willing to assume that Congress likely intended to adopt for the Jones Act the judicial gloss that the Court had placed on the damages provision of FELA, limiting it to pecuniary loss. See Miles, 498 U.S. at 32, 111 S.Ct. 317. “When Congress passed the Jones Act, the [Court’s] gloss on FELA, and the hoary tradition behind it, were well established. Incorporating FELA unaltered into the Jones Act, Congress must have intended to incorporate the pecuniary limitation on damages as well.” Id.
DeKalb applied the assumption more elaborately in determining which statute of repose applied to a suit under section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78n(a). We had previously applied a three-year limitations period in Ceres Partners v. GEL Associates, 918 F.2d 349 (2d Cir. 1990). Thereafter, Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, extending to five years the limitations period for some implied private causes of action, but not the sort of action implied by section 14(a). See DeKalb, 817 F.3d at 398. We concluded:

Congress must have known that, by

extending only the statute of repose

applicable to private rights of

action that involve a claim of fraud,

deceit,

manipulation,

or

contrivance, the statutes of repose

applicable to Section 14(a) would

remain intact. And from this

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knowledge, we conclude that Congress affirmatively intended to preserve them. We therefore hold that the same three-year statutes of repose that we applied to Section 14 in Ceres ... still apply to Section 14(a) today.
Id. at 409–10 (quotation marks, brackets, and footnotes omitted).
We encounter no circumstances comparable to Miles or DeKalb in the pending appeal. Whatever force might be given to the assumption that Congress enacted RFPA with awareness of Bramblett is thoroughly undermined by the clear indicators to the contrary from the text and legislative history we have recounted.26
*645 The second argument of Appellants reminds us that in an earlier time, the word “department” was famously used to refer to what is now called a “branch” of the federal government. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 177, 2 L.Ed. 60 (1803) (Little, Brown & Co. 1855);27 see also James Madison, Speech in the First Congress (June 17, 1789), in 5 The Writings of James Madison 395, 398 (Gaillard Hunt ed., 1904) (referring to the “three great departments of Government”). Hubbard, although not known to the Congress enacting RFPA, provides important guidance for us when the Supreme Court states that “while we have occasionally spoken of the three branches of our Government, including the Judiciary, as ‘departments,’ ” Hubbard, 514 U.S. at 699, 115 S.Ct. 1754 (brackets omitted) (citing Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475, 500, 18 L.Ed. 437 (1867)), “that locution is not an ordinary one. Far more common is the use of ‘department’ to refer to a component of the Executive Branch,” id.
Considering all of the parties’ arguments,28 we conclude that RFPA does not apply to Congress.
B. Statutory Claim––26 U.S.C. § 6103 The request for tax returns of named individuals and entities in the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas encounters a possible statutory claim under 26 U.S.C. § 6103. See
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Deutsche Bank Subpoenas ¶ 1(vi)(e)(7), J. App’x 39. Because of that request and because the parties had not said anything about tax returns in their briefs, we asked the Banks at oral argument whether they had in their possession tax returns within the coverage of the subpoenas. The Banks offered reasons why *646 they could not then respond to the question.
On August 26, we ordered the Banks to inform the Court whether either one has in its possession any tax returns of the individuals or entities named in paragraph 1 of the subpoenas received from the Committees.29 On August 27, Deutsche Bank submitted a redacted letter stating that it has in its possession some tax returns responsive to the subpoenas, with the names of the taxpayers redacted,30 and submitted under seal an unredacted letter identifying the taxpayers.31 On the same day, Capital One submitted a letter stating that it did not possess any tax returns responsive to the subpoena it received.32
Deutsche Bank’s filing of an unredacted letter under seal precipitated motions by various news organizations for leave to intervene and to seek unsealing of the unredacted letter.33 On Sept. 18, we ordered the parties to respond to those motions.34 On Sept. 27, the parties filed their responses.35 On Oct. 4, the Media Coalition filed a reply memorandum.36 On Oct. 10, we granted the motions to intervene and denied the motions to unseal. See Trump v. Deutsche Bank, 940 F.3d 146 (2d Cir. 2019).
Also at oral argument, we asked the Committees whether their subpoenas were in compliance with 26 U.S.C. § 6103(f), which imposes some limits on disclosure of tax returns. The Committees partially responded and offered to submit a fuller explanation by letter. On August 27, the Committees submitted a letter stating that the application of section 6103 depends on how the Banks obtained the returns.37 On August 29, Appellants submitted a letter stating, among other things, that the Committees have no authority to request the tax returns.38
Section 6103(a) of the Internal Revenue Code provides: “(a) General rule.—Returns and return information shall be confidential ....” Sections 6103(c)–(o) provide several exceptions to the general requirement of confidentiality. Subsection 6103(f)(3) makes a specific exception for committees of Congress. It provides:
“(3) Other committees.—Pursuant to an action by, and upon written request by the chairman of, a committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives (other than a committee specified in *647 paragraph (1))

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specially authorized to inspect any return or return information by a resolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives ... the Secretary shall furnish such committee, or a duly authorized and designated subcommittee thereof, sitting in closed executive session, with any return or return information which such resolution authorizes the committee or subcommittee to inspect. Any resolution described in this paragraph shall specify the purpose for which the return or return information is to be furnished and that such information cannot reasonably be obtained from any other source.”
26 U.S.C. § 6103(f)(3).39
Thus, Congress has protected the confidentiality of income tax returns, subject to several exceptions, and specified how such returns may be obtained by a committee of Congress.
Appellants contend that disclosure is prohibited (or, as they phrase it, that the Committees “have no jurisdiction to request tax returns”40) because the requirements of the subsection have not been met. They point out that the House has not passed a resolution specifically authorizing the Committees to inspect tax returns, specifying the purpose for which the returns are sought, or specifying that the information cannot reasonably be obtained from other sources. They also suggest that we need not resolve the issue now, but should leave it for resolution on remand.
Because the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas require production of tax returns and the motion for a preliminary injunction to prohibit compliance has been denied by the District Court, the absence of a ruling on production of the returns risks their disclosure to the Committees. We therefore believe that some ruling must be made.
The Committees do not dispute that they have not met the requirements of section 6103(f), but they contend that the provision does not apply to any tax returns in the possession of Deutsche Bank unless the bank obtained them from the IRS.
The text of section 6103 does not unambiguously resolve the dispute. In addition to citing the requirements of section 6103(f), Appellants rely on section 6103(a). It states that tax returns “shall be confidential,” and that “except as authorized by [the Internal Revenue Code]” no person within three specified categories “shall disclose any return ... obtained by him ... in connection with his
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service” within any of the three categories. These include employees of the United States, employees of a state or various local agencies, and those who obtained access to a return pursuant to various subsections of section 6103(a). § 6103(a)(1)–(3).
If the introductory clause of section 6103(a) is a blanket protection of the confidentiality of tax returns, then it prohibits disclosure of the returns in the possession of Deutsche Bank. But if that clause is to be read in conjunction with the rest of section 6103(a), then the clause means only that the returns are protected from disclosure by anyone within the three categories, and it does not prohibit disclosure in the pending appeal because Deutsche Bank is not within any of those categories. *648 Arguably limiting the coverage of section 6103(a) is section 6103(b). It defines “return” “[f]or purposes of this section” as a return “which is filed with the Secretary.” § 6103(b)(1). That provision could mean either the document or digital file in the possession of the Secretary (including the IRS), which Deutsche Bank does not have, or a copy of a paper or digitized return that has been submitted to the Secretary, which Deutsche Bank does have.
Another provision of section 6103 also creates ambiguity as to its meaning. Section 6103(f) states that a congressional committee may obtain a tax return “from the Secretary” pursuant to a House resolution meeting specified requirements, as set forth above. This provision could mean either that the only way a committee may obtain a tax return is to seek it from the Secretary and comply with the requirements of section 6103(f), or it could mean that those requirements apply only when a committee seeks a return from the Secretary and do not apply when a committee seeks a return from anyone else, such as Deutsche Bank.
Case law on these possible interpretations has evoked various rulings and statements. The Seventh Circuit has ruled that the introductory clause of section 6103(a) is not a blanket protection of confidentiality, but protects only against disclosure by those described in subsections 6103(a)(1)–(3). Hrubec v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 49 F.3d 1269 (7th Cir. 1995). “The ban on disclosure appears in the last, dangling, unnumbered portion of § 6103(a), not in the introductory phrase, and the ban is linked to the scope of identified subsections.” Id. at 1270–71. Hrubec found no violation of section 6103 by Amtrak employees who obtained copies of other employees’ tax returns from the IRS, but not as a result of a request covered by any of the categories identified in

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section 6103(a).41 The Ninth Circuit has also given a narrow interpretation to section 6103. In Stokwitz v. United States, 831 F.2d 893 (9th Cir. 1987), it ruled that “Section 6103 establishes a comprehensive scheme for controlling the release by the IRS of information received from taxpayers to discrete identified parties.” Id. at 895 (emphasis in original); accord Lomont v. O’Neill, 285 F.3d 9, 14–15 (D.C. Cir. 2002); Baskin v. United States, 135 F.3d 338, 342 (5th Cir. 1998); Ryan v. United States, 74 F.3d 1161, 1163 (11th Cir. 1996). Stokwitz found no violation of section 6103 where employees of the United States Navy seized from a taxpayer’s files copies of tax returns, even though the employees were covered by subsection 6103(a)(1). The Court relied on the definition of “tax return” in section 6103(b), see id. at 895–96 (“[T]he statutory definitions of ‘return’ and ‘return information’ to which the entire statute relates, confine the statute’s coverage to information that is passed through the IRS.”), and noted that implementing “Treasury regulations ... are exclusively concerned with disclosure by the IRS,” id. at 896 (citing Treas. Regs. §§ 301.6103(a)-1 to (p)(7)-1 (1986)).
Other courts have expressed different views. In National Treasury Employees Union v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 791 F.2d 183 (D.C. Cir. 1986), the D.C. Circuit referred to section 6103(a) as a “general rule that ‘returns and return information shall be confidential.’ ” Id. at 183 (brackets omitted) (quoting § 6103(a)). The Court’s main point, however, was that the disclosure, which had been made by IRS employees, had not been made in compliance with subsection 6103(l)(4)(A), and even that point, as well as the “general *649 rule” statement, were dicta because the Court’s holding was that the employees should not have been disciplined.
A district court in our Circuit has stated that a board licensing plumbers violated section 6103 by making disclosure of a license applicant’s tax forms a condition of obtaining a license. See Russell v. Board of Plumbing Examiners, 74 F. Supp. 2d 339 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) (“The Board being unable to get the copies directly from the Treasury should not be permitted to do so indirectly by coercion ....”), aff’d, 1 F. App’x 38 (2d Cir. 2001). The District Court’s view, however, was at most an alternate holding on an issue that the Court acknowledged had not been briefed, see id. at 348, and our affirmance in a non-precedential summary order made no reference to the issue, which had not been asserted as a ground for review, see Br. & Reply Br. for Appellants, Russell v. Board of Plumbing Examiners, 1 F. App’x 38 (2d Cir. 2001).
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We agree with the Seventh Circuit that section 6103(a) limits its prohibition against disclosure of tax returns to returns requested from the three categories of persons identified in subsections 6103(a)(1)–(3). There remains the possibility, however, that subsection 6103(f)(3), applicable to requests for tax returns by congressional committees other than those concerned explicitly with taxes, provides the exclusive means for such committees to obtain returns. The text of subsection 6103(f)(3) refers to committee requests “to the Secretary.” We agree with the Ninth Circuit that the plain language of the provision reflects Congress’s purpose in enacting section 6103, which “was to curtail loose disclosure practices by the IRS.” Stokwitz, 831 F.2d at 894. Because there is no claim by Appellants that Deutsche Bank obtained from the IRS any returns requested by the Committees, neither subsection 6103(f)(3), nor section 6103 as a whole, precludes their production to the Committees.
Appellants also contend that production of tax returns is prohibited by the RFPA and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Pub. L. No. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (1999). As we have ruled, however, RFPA does not apply to Congress. Gramm-Leach-Bliley is also no bar to production of tax returns because it explicitly permits disclosure of personal information “to comply with a ... subpoena ... by Federal ... authorities.” 15 U.S.C. § 6802(e)(8).
With respect to tax returns, the oral argument of this appeal precipitated further procedural developments, detailed in Trump v. Deutsche Bank, 940 F.3d 146 (2d Cir.2019) (order granting news organizations’ motions to intervene and denying their motions to unseal). Ultimately, Deutsche Bank informed us in an August 27, 2019, letter42 that it had two tax returns within the coverage of the Committees’ subpoenas and submitted the names of the two taxpayers under seal.
If any tax returns in the possession of Deutsche Bank were those of the Lead Plaintiff, we would have to consider whether their production to the Committees might encounter the objection that it would distract the Chief Executive in the performance of official duties. That issue need not be resolved, however, because Deutsche Bank informed us, in its response to the motions of news organizations to unseal Deutsche Bank’s letter of August 27, that the only tax returns in its *650 possession within the coverage of the subpoenas are not those of the Lead Plaintiff.
Disclosure of tax returns in the possession of Deutsche Bank in response to the Committees’ subpoenas will not

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violate section 6103, and the fact that, when requested by news organizations, we did not unseal the names of the taxpayers whose returns are in the possession of Deutsche Bank is not a reason to exclude those returns from Deutsche Bank’s compliance with the subpoenas.
C. Constitutional Claim Appellants’ constitutional claim does not assert any constitutionally based privilege that might protect their financial records from production by the Banks to the Committees, such as the privileges secured in the Bill of Rights. See Watkins, 354 U.S. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (recognizing “the restraints of the Bill of Rights upon congressional investigations”). Instead, Appellants contend that the Constitution places limits on the power of Congress to investigate, that the Committees’ subpoenas to the Banks exceed those limits, and that they have a right to prevent disclosure of documents in response to subpoenas beyond Congress’s power of investigation.
The subpoenas are surely broad in scope. Illustrating the scope, Appellants specifically call our attention to the following requests in the Committees’ subpoenas to Deutsche Bank for the following:
“any document related to account applications, opening documents, KYC [know your customer], due diligence, and closing documents”;
“any monthly or other periodic account statement”;
“any document related to any domestic or international transfer of funds in the amount of $10,000 or more”;
“any summary or analysis of domestic or international account deposits, withdrawals, and transfers”;
“any document related to monitoring for, identifying, or evaluating possible suspicious activity”;
“any document related to any investment, bond offering, line of credit, loan, mortgage, syndication, credit or loan restructuring, or any other credit arrangement.”
Deutsche Bank Subpoenas ¶¶ 1(i)–(vi), J. App’x 37–38.
The documents sought are those of the Lead Plaintiff and
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his three oldest children, and “members of their immediate family,” defined to include child, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law, among others, and a number of entities affiliated with the Lead Plaintiff and the Trump Organization. Id. at 37 ¶ 1, 47 ¶ 5. The documents concern financial transactions of the named individuals and their affiliated entities. The time frame for which most of the documents are sought is July 19, 2016, to the present for the Capital One subpoena and January 1, 2010, to the present for the Deutsche Bank subpoenas, but there is no time limit for two categories of documents sought by all three subpoenas. See id. at 37, intro., 52, intro. These categories include documents related to account openings, the names of those with interests in identified accounts, and financial ties between the named individuals and entities and any foreign individual, entity, or government. See id. at 37 ¶ 1(i), 41–42 ¶ 6(i), 52 ¶¶ 1(i), (ii).
Constitutional investigative authority of Congress. An important line of Supreme Court decisions, usually tracing back to McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135, 47 S.Ct. 319, 71 L.Ed. 580 (1927), has recognized a broad power of Congress and its committees to obtain information in aid of its legislative authority under Article I of the Constitution. See *651 Eastland v. United States Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491, 504, 95 S.Ct. 1813, 44 L.Ed.2d 324 (1975); Barenblatt, 360 U.S. at 111, 79 S.Ct. 1081; Watkins, 354 U.S. at 187, 77 S.Ct. 1173; Quinn, 349 U.S. at 160, 75 S.Ct. 668; Sinclair v. United States, 279 U.S. 263, 297, 49 S.Ct. 268, 73 L.Ed. 692 (1929), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 519, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995). “[T]he power of inquiry—with process to enforce it—is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function.” McGrain, 273 U.S. at 174, 47 S.Ct. 319. “The scope of the power of inquiry, in short, is as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution.” Barenblatt, 360 U.S. at 111, 79 S.Ct. 1081. “[T]he power to investigate is inherent in the power to make laws because ‘a legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change.’ ” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 504, 95 S.Ct. 1813 (brackets omitted) (quoting McGrain, 273 U.S. at 175, 47 S.Ct. 319). “The power of the Congress to conduct investigations ... encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 187, 77 S.Ct. 1173.43

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As the Committees recognize, however, Congress’s constitutional power to investigate is not unlimited. The Supreme Court has identified several limitations. One concerns intrusion into the authority of the other branches of the government. In Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 26 L.Ed. 377 (1880), which the Supreme Court has identified as the first case in which the Court considered a challenge to “the use of compulsory process as a legislative device,” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 193, 77 S.Ct. 1173, the Court ruled that Congress’s power to compel testimony was unconstitutionally used because the House of Representatives had “assumed a power which could only be properly exercised by another branch of the government,” in that case, the Judicial Branch, Kilbourn, 103 U.S. at 192.44
In Quinn, the Supreme Court identified other limits. The power to investigate “must not be confused with any of the powers of law enforcement.” 349 U.S. at 161, 75 S.Ct. 668. “Nor does it extend to an area in which Congress is forbidden to legislate.” Id. “Still further limitations on *652 the power to investigate are found in the specific individual guarantees of the Bill of Rights ....” Id. And, most pertinent to the pending appeal, the power to investigate “cannot be used to inquire into private affairs unrelated to a valid legislative purpose.” Id.
The principal argument of Appellants is that compliance with the Committees’ subpoenas should be preliminarily enjoined because the subpoenas seek information concerning their private affairs. Unquestionably, disclosure of the financial records sought by the Committees will subject Appellants’ private business affairs to the Committees’ scrutiny. However, inquiry into private affairs is not always beyond the investigative power of Congress. In Quinn, the Court was careful to state that the power to investigate “cannot be used to inquire into private affairs unrelated to a valid legislative purpose.” Id. (emphasis added). In Barenblatt, the Court stated a similar qualification: “Congress may not constitutionally require an individual to disclose ... private affairs except in relation to [a valid legislative] purpose.” 360 U.S. at 127, 79 S.Ct. 1081.
So, although the Court had made clear before Barenblatt that there is “no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure,” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200, 77 S.Ct. 1173, it has also stated that inquiry into private affairs is permitted as long as the inquiry is related “to a valid legislative purpose,” Quinn, 349 U.S. at 161, 75 S.Ct. 668; see Barenblatt, 360 U.S. at 127, 79 S.Ct. 1081. This potential tension between a permissible legislative
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purpose and an impermissible inquiry for the sake of exposure requires consideration of the role of motive and purpose in assessing the validity of a congressional inquiry.
The Supreme Court has spoken clearly as to motive with respect to a congressional inquiry. Referring to congressional committee members questioning a witness, the Court said, “[T]heir motives alone would not vitiate an investigation which had been instituted by a House of Congress if that assembly’s legislative purpose is being served.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (emphasis added).45
More than 50 years ago, the Supreme Court candidly recognized the difficulty a court faces in considering how a legislative purpose is to be assessed when a privacy interest is asserted to prevent a legislative inquiry:
“Accommodation of the congressional need for particular information with the individual and personal interest in privacy is an arduous and delicate task for *653 any court. We do not underestimate the difficulties that would attend such an undertaking.”
Id. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
Requirement of identifying legislative purpose. The first task for courts undertaking this “accommodation” is identification of the legislative purpose to which a congressional investigation is asserted to be related.
“It is manifest that despite the adverse effects which follow upon compelled disclosure of private matters, not all such inquiries are barred. Kilbourn v. Thompson teaches that such an investigation into individual affairs is invalid if unrelated to any legislative purpose.”
Id. Watkins provided further guidance as to how that inquiry as to legislative purpose should at least begin:
“An essential premise in this situation is that the House or Senate shall have instructed the committee members on what they are to do with the power delegated to them. It is the responsibility of the Congress, in the first instance, to insure that compulsory process is used only in furtherance of a legislative purpose. That requires that the instructions to an investigating committee spell out that group’s jurisdiction and purpose with sufficient particularity. Those instructions are embodied in the authorizing resolution. That document is the committee’s charter.”

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Id. at 201.
It is not clear whether this passage can be satisfied only by the instruction that the House gives to a committee pursuant to a House rule defining a standing committee’s continuing jurisdiction, or whether a specific “authorizing resolution” is required for a committee to undertake an investigation on a particular subject within its jurisdiction. During an argument on July 12 of this year in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 940 F.3d 710 (D.C. Cir.), reh’g en banc denied, 941 F.3d 1180 (D.C. Cir.), mandate stayed, No. 19A545, ––– U.S. ––––, 140 S.Ct. 574, ––– L.Ed.2d ––––, 2019 WL 6328115 (U.S. Nov. 25, 2019) (“Trump v. Mazars”), a challenge to a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform,46 the Mazars appellants, many of whom are Appellants here, contended that a clear statement from the House authorizing a standing committee to investigate not just a particular subject but the particular subpoena being challenged was required, at least where the subpoena seeks papers of the President. See Oral Arg. at 8:35, 1:32:15, 2:03:15, Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, No. 19-5142 (D.C. Cir. July 12, 2019).47
Apparently responding to that contention, the House of Representatives on July *654 24 adopted a resolution that includes the following language:
“Resolved, That the House of Representatives ratifies and affirms all current and future investigations, as well as all subpoenas previously issued or to be issued in the future, by any standing or permanent select committee of the House, pursuant to its jurisdiction as established by the Constitution of the United States and rules X and XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, concerning or issued directly or indirectly to—
(1) the President in his personal or official capacity;
(2) his immediate family, business entities, or organizations;
...
(9) any third party seeking information involving, referring, or related to any individual or entity described in paragraphs (1) through (7).”
H.R. Res. 507, 116th Cong. (2019); see H.R. Res. 509, 116th Cong. § 3 (2019) (“House Resolution 507 is hereby adopted.”).48 On July 26, the Committees informed us of this resolution.49
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On July 31, counsel for the Mazars appellants made two related arguments to the D.C. Circuit rejecting the significance of Resolution 507.50 First, he read the passage from Watkins, quoted above, to mean that only the House Rules initially outlining a committee’s jurisdiction can provide a valid source of authority for a legislative investigation. Second, he contended that two decisions, United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41, 73 S.Ct. 543, 97 L.Ed. 770 (1953), and Shelton v. United States, 327 F.2d 601 (D.C. Cir. 1963), establish that Resolution 507 came “too late.” On August 1, counsel for Appellants in our appeal made the same arguments to our Court.51
Although we agree that there must be sufficient evidence of legislative authorization *655 and purposes to enable meaningful judicial review, Appellants’ arguments that seek to limit evidence we may consider are not persuasive. Although Watkins examined the authorizing resolutions of the committee whose authority to compel answers to its inquiry was being challenged, see 354 U.S. at 201–02 & nn. 35–36, 77 S.Ct. 1173, the Supreme Court’s opinion reveals that these resolutions are not the only sources to be considered in determining whether a committee’s investigation has been validly authorized. As the Court noted, “There are several sources that can outline the ‘question under inquiry.’ ” Id. at 209, 77 S.Ct. 1173. Among these, the Court mentioned “the remarks of the [committee] chairman or members of the committee, or even the nature of the proceedings themselves.” Id. Indeed, the Court considered the opening statement of the chairman of the committee before whom the defendant in a criminal contempt proceeding had refused to answer, see id. at 209–10, 77 S.Ct. 1173, although finding the statement impermissibly vague, see id. at 210, 77 S.Ct. 1173; see also Shelton v. United States, 404 F.2d 1292, 1297 (D.C. Cir. 1968) (statements of committee members relevant to identification of purposes of congressional investigations).
Rumely does not confine the search for authorization of a valid legislative purpose to a committee’s jurisdictional resolution. The Court concluded that the witness’s “duty to answer must be judged as of the time of his refusal.” Rumely, 345 U.S. at 48, 73 S.Ct. 543. Because we regard the time of the Banks’ compliance with the subpoenas challenged in this case as the equivalent of the time of the witness’s refusal in Rumely, that decision is no bar to examining legislative materials existing before such compliance.
Furthermore, the Court’s point in Rumely was that the

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scope of the resolution authorizing the committee’s investigation could not “be enlarged by subsequent action of Congress.” 345 U.S. at 48, 73 S.Ct. 543. In the pending case, the issue with respect to House Resolution 507 is whether this Court, in ascertaining House authorization of the Committees’ investigations, can consider evidence that comes after the issuance of the subpoenas. Including House Resolution 507 in our consideration results in no unfairness to the Banks, which have not refused to produce the information requested. Moreover, House Resolution 507 does not suffer from the same “infirmity of post litem motam, self-serving declarations” that tainted the post hoc debate in Rumely, 345 U.S. at 48, 73 S.Ct. 543, because the resolution does not purport to alter either the interpretation of the Committees’ jurisdiction or the stated purposes of the Committees’ investigations that existed at the time the subpoenas were issued. Rather, the resolution was passed to eliminate any doubt regarding the support of the House for the Committees’ investigations.
The D.C. Circuit’s decision in Shelton states that the time a contempt witness is entitled to know the purpose of a challenged legislative inquiry is “before the subpoena issued.” 327 F.2d at 607. Preliminarily, we note that this assertion is dictum; the holding is that the committee’s subpoena was invalid because of procedural irregularity in its issuance.52 See id. More important, that dictum conflicts with what the Supreme Court said in *656 Watkins. The Court there made clear that to satisfy the due process objection arising from a contempt imposed for refusing to answer a committee’s question insufficiently shown to be related to a valid legislative purpose, the purpose could be identified as late as immediately before the witness was required to answer. “Unless the subject matter has been made to appear with undisputable clarity, it is the duty of the investigative body, upon objection of the witness on grounds of pertinency, to state for the record the subject under inquiry at that time and the manner in which the propounded questions are pertinent thereto.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 214–15, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
We therefore do not confine our search for the Committees’ purposes to the House Rules alone, nor do we exclude Resolution 507 from our inquiry.
Identifying the Committees’ legislative purpose. We next consider the “legislative purpose” to which the Committees assert their investigations are “related” and “the weight to be ascribed to[ ] the interest of the Congress in demanding disclosures” in order to determine
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whether “a public need” for such investigation “overbalances any private rights affected.” Id. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
Our consideration begins with the Constitution, which assigns to each house of Congress authority to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 5, cl. 2. In 2019, Congress adopted the Rules of the House of Representatives. See H.R. Res. 6, 116th Cong. (2019); Rules of the House of Representatives, 116th Cong. (prepared by Karen L. Haas, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Jan. 11, 2019) (hereinafter “H. Rules”). House Rule X establishes the standing committees of the House, including the Financial Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. See H. Rules X(2)(h), X(11). Rule X assigns to the Financial Services Committee jurisdiction over bills concerning, among other things, banks and banking, international finance, and money and credit, see H. Rule X (1)(h)(1), (h)(5), (h)(7), and assigns to the Intelligence Committee jurisdiction over bills concerning, among other things, the Nation’s intelligence agencies and their intelligence and intelligence-related activities, see H. Rule X(11)(b)(1)(A), (B).
Rule X also assigns to all of the standing committees “general oversight responsibilities ... to assist the House in its analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of (A) the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of Federal laws; and (B) conditions and circumstances that may indicate the necessity or desirability of enacting new or additional legislation.” H. Rule X(2)(a)(1). In addition, Rule X assigns to the Intelligence Committee “[s]pecial oversight functions” to “review and study on a continuing basis laws, programs, and activities of the intelligence community.” H. Rule X(3)(m).
House Rule XI provides: “Each committee may conduct at any time such investigations and studies as it considers necessary or appropriate in the exercise of its responsibilities under [R]ule X.” H. Rule XI(1)(b)(1). Rule XI also provides:
“For the purpose of carrying out any of its functions and duties under this rule and [R]ule X ... a committee or subcommittee is authorized ... to require, by subpoena ... the production of such ... records ... as it considers necessary.”
H. Rule XI(2)(m)(1)(B).
On March 13, 2019, the House of Representatives

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adopted a resolution stating, among other things, that the House “supports efforts to close loopholes that allow corruption, terrorism, and money laundering *657 to infiltrate our country’s financial system.” H.R. Res. 206, 116th Cong. (Mar. 13, 2019).
On April 12, 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform issued a report summarizing the subjects that several committees planned to investigate during the 116th Congress. See H.R. Rep. No. 116-40 (2019). Because the date of this report is one day after issuance of the subpoenas challenged in this case, we note that the text of the report makes clear that the plans submitted by the committees had been received prior to the date the report was issued.53
The plan submitted by the Financial Services Committee includes as its purposes: “examining financial regulators’ supervision of the banking, thrift and credit union industries for safety and soundness and compliance with laws and regulations,” id. at 78; “the implementation, effectiveness, and enforcement of anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism laws and regulations,” id. at 84 (abbreviation omitted); and “the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in the real estate market,” id. at 85.
The Chair of the Financial Services Committee, Representative Maxine Waters, has identified a principal purpose of that committee’s investigation. “The movement of illicit funds throughout the global financial system raises numerous questions regarding the actors who are involved in these money laundering schemes and where the money is going.” 165 Cong. Rec. H2697, H2698 (daily ed. Mar. 13, 2019) (statement of Rep. Waters in support of H.R. Res. 206). Linking the Committee’s inquiries to Appellants, she explained that her concerns are “precisely why the Financial Services Committee is investigating the questionable financing provided to President Trump and [t]he Trump Organization by banks like Deutsche Bank to finance its real estate properties.” Id. In her statement, Rep. Waters noted that Deutsche Bank was fined for its role in a $10 billion money-laundering scheme, 165 Cong. Rec. at H2698, and the Committees note in their brief, Br. for Intervenors at 11, that Capital One agreed to pay a fine of $100 million for failing to correct deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering programs, see Capital One, N.A., Enforcement Action No. 2018-080, 2018 WL 5384428, at *1–2 (O.C.C. Oct. 23, 2018).
The Financial Services Committee has held hearings on
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these matters,54 and considered bills to combat financial crimes, such as money laundering.55
*658 The Chair of the Intelligence Committee has identified several purposes of that committee’s investigation. The committee is investigating “[t]he scope and scale of the Russian government’s operations to influence the U.S. political process”; “[t]he extent of any links and/or coordination between the Russian government, or related foreign actors, and individuals associated with Donald Trump’s campaign, transition, administration, or business interests, in furtherance of the Russian government’s interests”; “[w]hether any foreign actor has sought to compromise or holds leverage, financial or otherwise, over Donald Trump, his family, his business, or his associates”; and “[w]hether President Trump, his family, or his associates are or were at any time at heightened risk of, or vulnerable to, foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure, or coercion.” Press Release, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman Schiff Statement on House Intelligence Committee Investigation (Feb. 6, 2019).56
Linking these investigations to Appellants, the Committees cite public reports indicating that Deutsche Bank has extended loans to the Lead Plaintiff totaling more than $2 billion57 and that his 2017 financial disclosure report showed a liability of at least $130 million to Deutsche Bank.58 At oral argument, counsel for the Committees represented, without contradiction by Appellants, that Deutsche Bank is the only bank willing to lend to the Lead Plaintiff. See Oral Arg. Tr. at p. 36, ll. 5–18.
On this appeal, the Committees contend that the Intelligence Committee’s investigations “will inform numerous legislative proposals to protect the U.S. political process from the threat of foreign influence and strengthen national security.” Br. for Committees at 18.59
All of the foregoing fully identifies “the interest[s] of the Congress in demanding disclosures,” as Watkins requires. 354 U.S. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173. The Committees’ interests concern national security and the integrity of elections, and, more specifically, enforcement of anti-money-laundering/counter-financing of terrorism laws, terrorist financing, the movement of illicit funds through the global financial system including the real estate market, the scope of the Russian government’s *659 operations to influence the U.S. political process, and whether the Lead Plaintiff was vulnerable to foreign

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exploitation. Watkins also requires that a legislative inquiry must in fact be related to a legislative purpose.60 See id. The Committees have fully satisfied the requirements of Watkins.
We conclude our consideration of the Committees’ identification of valid legislative purposes by noting the significantly different purposes that were identified by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in the Trump v. Mazars case in the District of Columbia,61 to which we previously alluded.62 The four subject matters being investigated by that committee, set out in the margin,63 all explicitly concerned whether the President was in compliance with legal requirements. Nevertheless, Judge Tatel’s opinion for the Mazars majority concluded that the Oversight Committee, in issuing the challenged subpoena, “was engaged in a ‘legitimate legislative investigation,’ rather than an impermissible law-enforcement inquiry.” Mazars, 940 F.3d at 732 (quoting Hutcheson v. United States, 369 U.S. 599, 618, 82 S.Ct. 1005, 8 L.Ed.2d 137 (1962)) (citation omitted). On the other hand, Judge Rao’s dissent contended that because the Oversight Committee was investigating whether the President violated various laws, its “investigations may be pursued exclusively through impeachment.”64 Id. at 751.
In the pending appeal, the Committees are not investigating whether the Lead Plaintiff has violated any law. To the extent that the Committees are looking into unlawful activity such as money laundering, their focus is not on any alleged misconduct of the Lead Plaintiff (they have made no allegation of his misconduct); instead, *660 it is on the existence of such activity in the banking industry, the adequacy of regulation by relevant agencies, and the need for legislation.
Whether legislative purpose “overbalances” private rights. The Supreme Court can be understood in Watkins to have set out a second requirement for courts considering challenges to legislative inquiries.
“The critical element is the existence of, and the weight to be ascribed to, the interest of the Congress in demanding disclosures from an unwilling witness. We cannot simply assume, however, that every congressional investigation is justified by a public need that overbalances any private rights affected. To do so would be to abdicate the responsibility placed by the Constitution upon the judiciary to insure that the Congress does not unjustifiably encroach upon an individual’s right to privacy ....”
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354 U.S. at 198–99, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (emphasis added).
When the Court said that it “cannot simply assume, however, that every congressional investigation is justified by a public need that overbalances any private rights affected,” id. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173, the inference is available that courts are to determine whether the importance of the legislative interest outweighs an individual’s privacy interests.
Three considerations diminish the force of this possible inference. First, we should be hesitant to conclude that the Supreme Court, always sensitive to separation-of-powers concerns, would want courts to make this sort of balancing determination, the outcome of which might impede the Legislative Branch in pursuing its valid legislative purposes. Second, the Court might simply have meant that courts should not “assume” the existence of a legislative purpose, but that the judicial task is at an end once courts find in congressional materials sufficient identification of the valid legislative purposes that Congress or a committee is pursuing. Third, the Court later cautioned that “courts should not go beyond the narrow confines of determining that a committee’s inquiry may fairly be deemed within its province.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 506, 95 S.Ct. 1813 (quotation marks omitted). On the other hand, it is not likely that the Court would have described such a minimalist approach as “an arduous and delicate task.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
Encountering this uncertainty as to the task that Watkins has required courts to undertake, we will assume, for the argument, that we should make at least some inquiry as to whether the “public need” to investigate for the valid legislative purposes we have identified “overbalances any private rights affected.” That balancing is similar to the comparison of hardships we make in Part IV, one of the factors relevant to two of the preliminary injunction standards.
We conclude that, even if Watkins requires balancing after valid legislative purposes have been identified, the interests of Congress in pursuing the investigations for which the challenged subpoenas were issued substantially “overbalance” the privacy interests invaded by disclosure of financial documents, including the non-official documents of the Lead Plaintiff. “[T]he weight to be ascribed to” the public need for the investigations the Committees are pursuing is of the highest order. The legislative purposes of the investigations concern national security and the integrity of elections, as detailed above.

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By contrast, the privacy interests concern private financial documents related to businesses, possibly enhanced by the risk that disclosure *661 might distract the President in the performance of his official duties.
Whether the subpoenas seek information related to legislative purposes. The remaining issue is whether the information sought by the subpoenas is sufficiently related to the identified legislative purposes supporting the Committees’ investigations, or whether the subpoenas are overbroad, as Appellants contend. Their challenge proceeds along three lines: (1) a procedural objection concerning the District Court, (2) several general substantive objections to the entire scope of the subpoenas, and (3) a more focused substantive objection to several specific categories of information sought by the subpoenas.
Procedural objection--District Court’s not requiring negotiation. Appellants contend that the District Court erred procedurally by not “send[ing] the parties back to the negotiating table” to attempt to narrow the scope of the subpoenas. Br. for Appellants at 29. Judge Livingston favors that disposition. Part. Diss. Op. at 680–81, 699–700. Indeed, that is an additional point of her partial dissent, which takes no position on the merits of any of Appellants’ claims, deferring decision until such negotiation occurs. Judge Livingston also favors a total remand for further development of the record.
Appellants cite two instances where courts have had at least partial success in encouraging such negotiation. See AT&T II, 567 F.2d at 124–25; Bean LLC v. John Doe Bank, 291 F. Supp. 3d 34, 39–40 (D.D.C. 2018). Both cases arose in significantly different circumstances, and neither one requires a total remand here. The AT&T litigation involved what the D.C. Circuit characterized as “a portentous clash between the [E]xecutive and [L]egislative [B]ranches,” AT&T I, 551 F.2d at 385. In the pending appeal, as we have noted, the Lead Plaintiff is suing only in his individual capacity, not as President, and no official documents are sought. The only Executive Branch interest implicated is the possible distraction of the President in the performance of his duties, which we consider at pages 669–70. Furthermore, AT&T I concerned national security wiretaps, Executive Branch official documents of obvious sensitivity. Finally, the D.C. Circuit’s advice in AT&T I was offered after the parties had already “negotiated extensively and came close to agreement.” Id. at 394. The Court simply urged the parties to continue the process they had successfully begun and “requested” the parties “to attempt to negotiate
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a settlement,” id. at 395, because the “precise details of the [earlier] negotiations ... demonstrate[d] the proximity of the parties to a workable compromise,” id. at 386. The Bean litigation concerned a subpoena challenged as violative of the First Amendment. See 291 F. Supp. 3d at 37.
To the extent that the request for judicial assistance in narrowing the scope of the subpoenas is analogous to the role of district court judges managing pretrial discovery, they have broad discretion to determine the extent to which they should intervene, see, e.g., In re Fitch, Inc., 330 F.3d 104, 108 (2d Cir. 2003), and Judge Ramos did not exceed such discretion in this case by leaving any negotiation in the hands of experienced counsel prior to his ruling. In favoring a total remand, Judge Livingston does not consider our limited standard of review of the District Court’s decision not to require the parties to negotiate, nor does she suggest that the District Court’s discretion was exceeded. Moreover, Appellants have not identified a single category of documents sought or even a single document within a category that they might be willing to have the Banks produce if a negotiation had been required. Finally, we note the likely futility *662 of ordering a total remand for negotiation, as Judge Livingston prefers,65 in view of the fact that the White House has prohibited members of the Administration from even appearing in response to congressional subpoenas and has informed Congress that “President Trump and his Administration cannot participate” in congressional inquiries.66
Judge Livingston suggests that a total remand would be useful to afford the parties an opportunity for further development of the record. However, Appellants have given no indication of what additional materials they would seek to add to the record, and the existing record fully suffices for disposition of this appeal.
A total remand would simply further delay production of documents in response to subpoenas that were issued seven months ago and would run directly counter to the Supreme Court’s instruction that motions to enjoin a congressional subpoena should “be given the most expeditious treatment by district courts because one branch of Government is being asked to halt the functions of a coordinate branch.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 511 n.17, 95 S.Ct. 1813.
General substantive objections to scope of subpoenas. One broad substantive challenge to the scope of the subpoenas is that they focus on the Lead Plaintiff.67 This

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*663 point is made in support of the broader argument that the subpoenas were issued with the expectation that some of the documents sought would embarrass the President, rather than advance a legitimate legislative purpose. One answer to the complaint about targeting the Lead Plaintiff and his family is that the Committees have represented that the three subpoenas at issue in this litigation are among a group of subpoenas “to seven other financial institutions, the majority of which do not request documents specific to” the Lead Plaintiff. Br. for Committees at 9.68 In fact, the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas themselves seek documents from entities not related to Appellants. See Deutsche Bank Subpoenas ¶¶ 2–6, J. App’x 40–42. Another answer to the targeting objection is the significant relationship between Deutsche Bank and the Lead Plaintiff. The Committees have relied on information (not disputed by Appellants) indicating that when no other bank would extend credit to the Lead Plaintiff, Deutsche Bank loaned him or his affiliated entities at least $130 million dollars. That unusual circumstance adequately supports requests for information to determine whether proper banking procedures have been followed.
To whatever extent the targeting objection is really a claim that part of the motive of some members of the Committees for issuing the three subpoenas was to embarrass the Lead Plaintiff, the Supreme Court has made it clear that in determining the lawfulness of a congressional inquiry, courts “do not look to the motives alleged to have prompted it.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 508, 95 S.Ct. 1813. The Court had earlier said, “So long as Congress acts in pursuance of its constitutional power, the Judiciary lacks authority to intervene on the basis of the motives which spurred the exercise of that power.” Barenblatt, 360 U.S. at 132, 79 S.Ct. 1081 (citations omitted).
In this respect, the guiding principle is the same as that applicable when an arrest supported by probable cause is ruled valid despite the arresting officer’s motive to retaliate against a suspect for exercising a First Amendment right. See Nieves v. Bartlett, ––– U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 1715, 1725, 204 L.Ed.2d 1 (2019); see also Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250, 265–66, 126 S.Ct. 1695, 164 L.Ed.2d 441 (2006) (absence *664 of probable cause required for valid claim of initiating prosecution to retaliate against a defendant for exercising a First Amendment right).
But Appellants disclaim any objection based on inquiry into motive. “No aspect of this inquiry involves a search
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for Congress’s hidden ‘motives.’ ” Br. for Appellants at 26. Their point is that various statements of some members of Congress reveal that the purpose of the investigations is to embarrass the President, not merely that such embarrassment was the motive for the investigations. In this context (as in some others69), the distinction between motive, i.e., the reason for acting, and purpose, i.e., the result sought, becomes somewhat blurred. We do not doubt that some members of the Committees, even as they pursued investigations for valid legislative purposes, hoped that the results of their inquiries would embarrass the President.70 But as long as the valid legislative purposes that the Committees have identified are being pursued and are not artificial pretexts for ill-motivated maneuvers, the Committees have not exceeded their constitutional authority. The Supreme Court has stated that there is a “presumption” that the stated legislative purposes are the “real object” of the Committees’ investigation. McGrain, 273 U.S. at 178, 47 S.Ct. 319. We need not rely on that presumption where we have evidence that valid legislative purposes are being pursued and “the purpose[s] asserted [are] supported by references to specific problems which in the past have been or which in the future could be the subjects of appropriate legislation.” Shelton, 404 F.2d at 1297.
Appellants object to the extensive time frame covered by the subpoenas, especially the absence of any time limitations on requests relating to account applications and the identity of those holding interests in accounts. Appellants also object to disclosure of financial records in the names of family members, including the Lead Plaintiff’s grandchildren. However, such information, including documents dating back to when accounts were opened, is reasonably related to an investigation about money laundering.
Appellants contend that the subpoenas exceed any valid legislative purpose because, in their view, the subpoenas are intended to discover evidence of crimes, thereby indicating that the Committees are pursuing a law enforcement objective, which is beyond the power of Congress. See Quinn, 349 U.S. at 161, 75 S.Ct. 668. But, as Appellants themselves recognize, “a permissible legislative investigation does not become impermissible because it might reveal evidence of a crime.” Br. for *665 Appellants at 22. Any investigation into the effectiveness of the relevant agencies’ existing efforts to combat money laundering or the need for new legislation to render such efforts more effective can be expected to discover evidence of crimes, and such discovery would not detract from the legitimacy of the legislative purpose in

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undertaking the investigation. The Supreme Court long ago rejected Appellants’ argument: “Nor do we think it a valid objection to the investigation that it might possibly disclose crime or wrongdoing on [an executive branch official’s] part.” McGrain, 273 U.S. at 179–80, 47 S.Ct. 319. See Sinclair, 279 U.S. at 295, 49 S.Ct. 268 (“[T]he authority of [Congress], directly or through its committees, to require pertinent disclosures in aid of its own constitutional power is not abridged because the information sought to be elicited may also be of use in [criminal prosecutions].”).
Appellants fault Judge Ramos, who, they contend, “asserted that Congress has an independent ‘informing function’ that allows it to ... ‘publicize corruption ... in agencies of the Government,’ even absent a connection to ‘contemplated legislation in the form of a bill or statute.’ ” Br. for Appellants at 23 (quoting District Court opinion, J. App’x 127). Although the phrases quoted from the Court’s opinion are accurate, the brief’s addition of the words “independent” and “absent a connection” is a mischaracterization of what Judge Ramos said. He was not asserting an independent informing function or investigative power absent a connection to a legislative purpose. He was careful to state that Congress’s legislative authority “includes a more general informing function.” J. App’x 127 (emphasis added). This reflected the Supreme Court’s statement in Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 443 U.S. 111, 132–33, 99 S.Ct. 2675, 61 L.Ed.2d 411 (1979), that “congressional efforts to inform itself through committee hearings are part of the legislative function.”71
However, some of the Court’s statements in Watkins create uncertainty as to whether, and in what circumstances, an informing function permits public disclosure of information obtained as part of a valid legislative inquiry. On the one hand, the Court said, “We have no doubt that there is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.” 354 U.S. at 200, 77 S.Ct. 1173. On the other hand, the Court also said, “The public is, of course, entitled to be informed concerning the workings of its government.”72 Id. And, in cautioning that the public’s right to be informed about its government “cannot be inflated into a general power to expose,” id., the Court added in the same sentence, “where the predominant result can only be an invasion of the private rights of individuals,” id. (emphases added). The Court also noted that it was “not concerned with the power of the Congress to inquire into and publicize corruption, maladministration or inefficiency in agencies of the Government.” Id. at 200 n.33, 77 S.Ct. 1173. These
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latter statements make *666 clear that Congress can obtain information in an investigation as long as the information is collected in furtherance of valid legislative purposes. In the pending appeal, the high significance of the valid legislative purposes demonstrates that the “predominant purpose” of the Committees’ inquiries cannot be said to be “only” to invade private rights.
Specific substantive objections to scope of subpoenas. We next consider Appellants’ specific challenges to the scope of the subpoenas. Of the three subpoenas, the two identical subpoenas to Deutsche Bank have the broadest scope. These subpoenas fill six single-spaced pages describing eight categories of documents, subdivided into 52 paragraphs, many of which request several types of items. If such extensive document requests were made during discovery in ordinary civil litigation, an initial response would likely be that the requests are too burdensome. In this case, however, the Banks have made no claim that compiling the requested documents imposes an excessive burden on them. It is Appellants whose privacy is claimed to be unlawfully impaired by the Banks’ compliance with the subpoenas who challenge the breadth of the requests. To consider that challenge we examine the subpoenas in detail.
We note that of the eight categories of documents sought by the two Deutsche Bank Subpoenas, only categories 1, 7, and 8 request documents belonging to, or likely to reveal information concerning, Appellants or entities they control or in which they are alleged to have interests. The Committees confirmed this fact during oral argument, without dispute from Appellants. The first category of documents includes, with respect to the individuals (including members of their immediate families) and entities named: documents reflecting applications to open accounts, due diligence, and related items, ¶ 1(i); account statements, ¶ 1(ii); transfers of amounts in excess of $10,000, ¶ 1(iii); summaries or analyses of account activity including the destination of checks (without limitation as to amount), ¶ 1(iv); suspicious activity, ¶ 1(v); investment, mortgage, and credit arrangements and related items, ¶ 1(vi), including appraisals of assets, ¶ 1(vi)(d), and financial information provided by borrowers, ¶ 1(vi)(e), such as tax returns, ¶ 1(vi)(e)(7), and bankruptcy records, ¶ 1(vi)(e)(8); information supplied pursuant to §§ 314(a) or 314(b) of the PATRIOT Act, Pub. L. No. 107-56, ¶ 1(vii); records generated by named bank employees, ¶ 1(viii); documents not kept in customary record-keeping systems related to the named individuals and entities, ¶ 1(ix); and matters discussed with Deutsche Bank’s boards, ¶ 1(x).

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The seventh category covers documents reflecting periodic reviews of the identified individuals and entities. ¶ 7. The eighth category covers any communications by named employees of the Banks concerning the identified individuals and entities. ¶ 8. Many of the paragraphs in categories 1, 7, and 8 seek documents “including, but not limited to, those involving any foreign individual, entity, or government” or similar language. E.g., ¶ 1(vi), ¶ 1(vi)(k).
The subpoena from the Financial Services Committee to Capital One is less extensive, filling one and one-half single-spaced pages describing one category of documents, subdivided into fifteen paragraphs, two of which request several items. This category includes, with respect to accounts held by the entities named and their principals, directors, etc.: documents related to applications to open accounts and due diligence, ¶ 1(i); documents identifying those with interests in the accounts, ¶ 1(ii); documents identifying any account manager, ¶ 1(iii); monthly statements and cancelled checks in excess of $5,000, *667 ¶ 1(iv); summaries or analyses of account activity including the destination of checks (without limitation as to amount), ¶ 1(v); transfers in excess of $10,000, ¶ 1(vi); documents concerning suspicious activity, ¶ 1(vii); reviews of accounts pursuant to Capital One’s procedures related to Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering, and compliance with guidance on “Politically Exposed Persons,” ¶ 1(viii); documents not kept in customary record-keeping systems related to any loan provided to the named entities, ¶ 1(ix); documents related to real estate transactions, ¶ 1(x); documents provided in response to any subpoena or request from any U.S. Federal or state agency, ¶ 1(xi)(a); notices of administrative, civil, or criminal actions, ¶ 1(xi)(b); requests pursuant to §§ 314(a) or 314(b) of the PATRIOT Act, ¶ 1(xi)(c); and requests for information to or from a third party, ¶ 1(xi)(d).
Sensitive personal information. A specific item in the subpoenas that raises serious concerns as to whether even valid legislative purposes permit exposure of matters entitled to privacy protection is the request for “analyses of ... transfers, including ... the destination of the transfers ..., including any ... check ....” Deutsche Bank Subpoenas, ¶ 1(iv); Capital One Subpoena, ¶ 1(v) (emphasis added). These items have no dollar limitations, even though other provisions limit transfer information to checks above specified amounts. Deutsche Bank Subpoenas, ¶ 1(iii) ($10,000); Capital One Subpoena, ¶ 1(iv) ($5,000). In addition to “analyses” of all checks, the Deutsche Bank
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Subpoenas seek “monthly or other periodic account statements” including “outgoing funds transfers,” ¶ 1(ii), which might reveal the recipients of at least some checks.
These provisions create a risk that some of the checks sought might reveal sensitive personal details having no relationship to the Committees’ legislative purposes. For example, if one of the entities decided to pay for medical services rendered to an employee, the check, and any similar document disclosing sensitive personal information unrelated to business transactions, should not be disclosed. The same would be true of any check reflecting payment for anyone’s medical services. The Committees have advanced no reason why the legislative purposes they are pursuing require disclosure of such sensitive personal information. Indeed, counsel for the Committees at oral argument appeared to recognize that such sensitive personal information need not be disclosed. Oral Arg. Tr. at p. 41, ll. 8–18. We have not located any decision that has considered whether Congress is entitled to require disclosure of sensitive personal information that might be swept up in a collection of business-related financial documents legitimately sought in aid of legislative purposes. At least in the absence of a compelling reason for such disclosure, we decline to permit it in this case.
Other possibly excludable documents. In addition to what we have described as “sensitive documents,” we recognize that there might be a few documents within the coverage of the subpoenas that have such an attenuated relationship to the Committees’ legislative purposes that they need not be disclosed.
We have concluded that the coverage of the following paragraphs of the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas might include some documents warranting exclusion: paragraphs 1(ii), 1(iv), 1(vi)(e), 1(viii), and 8. We reach the same conclusion as to the following paragraphs of the Capital One subpoena: paragraphs 1(iv), 1(v), 1(x), and 1(xi)(d). We have no such concerns with the coverage of any of the other paragraphs of the subpoenas. All the documents within the coverage of these other paragraphs are *668 sufficiently likely to be relevant to legislative purposes.73 Even if within the coverage of these other paragraphs are some documents that turn out not to advance the Committees’ investigations, that would not be a valid reason for excluding such documents from production. As the Supreme Court has observed with reference to another challenge to a congressional subpoena seeking private banking records, “The very nature of the investigative function––like any

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research––is that it takes the searchers up some ‘blind alleys’ and into nonproductive enterprises. To be a valid legislative inquiry there need be no predictable end result.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 509, 95 S.Ct. 1813.
Any attempt to identify for exclusion from disclosure documents within the listed paragraphs must be done with awareness that a principal legislative purpose of the Committees is to seek information about the adequacy of banking regulators’ steps to prevent money laundering, a practice that typically disguises illegal transactions to appear lawful. Many documents facially appearing to reflect normal business dealings will therefore warrant disclosure for examination and analysis by skilled investigators assisting the Committees to determine the effectiveness of current regulation and the possible need for improved legislation.
Procedure for exclusion of specific documents. To facilitate exclusion of sensitive documents and those few documents that should be excluded from the coverage of the listed paragraphs, we instruct the District Court on remand to implement the following procedure:74 (1) after each of the Banks has promptly, and in no event beyond 30 days, assembled all documents within the coverage of paragraphs 1(ii), 1(iv), 1(vi)(e), 1(viii), and 8 of the Deutsche Bank Subpoenas and paragraphs 1(iv), 1(v), 1(x), and 1(xi)(d) of the Capital One Subpoena, counsel for Appellants shall have 14 days to identify to the District Court all sensitive documents and any documents (or portions of documents) within the coverage of the listed paragraphs that they contend should be withheld from disclosure, under the limited standard discussed above; (2) counsel for the Committees shall have seven days to object to the nondisclosure of such documents; (3) the District Court shall rule promptly on the Committees’ objections; (4) Appellants and the Committees shall have seven days to seek review in this Court of the District Court’s ruling with respect to disclosure or nondisclosure of documents pursuant to this procedure.75 Any appeal of such a ruling will be referred to this panel.
The abbreviated timetable of this procedure is set in recognition of the Supreme Court’s instruction that motions to enjoin a congressional subpoena should “be given the most expeditious treatment by district courts because one branch of Government is being asked to halt the functions of a coordinate branch.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 511 n.17, 95 S.Ct. 1813.
*669 All other documents. All documents within the coverage of the paragraphs not listed and those documents
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not excluded pursuant to the procedure outlined above shall be promptly transmitted to the Committees in daily batches as they are assembled, beginning seven days from the date of this opinion.
Except as provided above, all three subpoenas seek documents that the Committees are entitled to believe will disclose information pertinent to legitimate topics within the Committees’ authorized investigative authority, especially money laundering, inappropriate foreign financial relationships with the named individuals and entities, and Russian operations to influence the U.S. political process. As the Supreme Court has observed, documents subpoenaed by a congressional committee need only be “not plainly incompetent or irrelevant to any lawful purpose [of a committee] in the discharge of its duties.” McPhaul v. United States, 364 U.S. 372, 381, 81 S.Ct. 138, 5 L.Ed.2d 136 (1960) (quotation marks and brackets omitted). The documents sought by the three subpoenas easily pass that test. The subpoenas are reasonably framed to aid the Committees in fulfilling their responsibilities to conduct oversight as to the effectiveness of agencies administering statutes within the Committees’ jurisdiction and to obtain information appropriate for consideration of the need for new legislation.
Objections of the United States as amicus curiae. The United States makes several additional arguments in its amicus curiae brief. The amicus brief contends that “the possibility that a subpoena might transgress separation-of-powers limits ... mandates that the House clearly authorize a subpoena directed at [the President’s] records.” Br. for Amicus United States at 10 (citing Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 800–01, 112 S.Ct. 2767, 120 L.Ed.2d 636 (1992), and Armstrong v. Bush, 924 F.2d 282, 289 (D.C. Cir. 1991)). First, this case does not concern separation of powers. The Lead Plaintiff is not suing in his official capacity, no action is sought against him in his official capacity, no official documents of the Executive Branch are at issue, Congress has not arrogated to itself any authority of the Executive Branch, and Congress has not sought to limit any authority of the Executive Branch.
Second, the cited cases, Franklin and Armstrong, do not concern congressional requests for information. Both require a clear statement from Congress when a statute is claimed to limit presidential power. In all of the numerous decisions concerning congressional subpoenas for information from Executive Branch officials, including the President, there is not even a hint, much less a ruling,

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that the House (or Senate) is required to authorize a specific subpoena issued by one of its committees. In any event, the materials cited above provide sufficient clarity, in light of Supreme Court decisions concerning congressional investigations, to authorize subpoenas for the Lead Plaintiff’s unofficial business records in aid of valid legislative purposes.
The amicus brief argues that a President is “entitled to special solicitude in discovery,” Br. for Amicus United States at 6 (citing Cheney, 542 U.S. at 385, 124 S.Ct. 2576, and In re Trump, 928 F.3d 360, 371–72 (4th Cir. 2019)), “even in suits solely related to his private conduct,” id. (citing Jones, 520 U.S. at 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636). As a general proposition, we agree and have endeavored to recognize that point in the special procedure we have directed the District Court to follow on a limited remand. We note, however, that in Cheney the Supreme Court was careful to point out that “special considerations control *670 when the Executive Branch’s interests in maintaining the autonomy of its office and safeguarding the confidentiality of its communications are implicated.” Cheney, 542 U.S. at 385, 124 S.Ct. 2576. In the pending appeal, the Lead Plaintiff is suing in his individual capacity, no confidentiality of any official documents is asserted, and any concern arising from the risk of distraction in the performance of the Lead Plaintiff’s official duties is minimal in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Clinton v. Jones, and, in any event, far less substantial than the importance of achieving the legislative purposes identified by Congress. In Jones, the claimed distraction was that attending a deposition and being subjected to a civil trial would divert some of the President’s time from performance of his official duties; in the pending case, there is no claim of any diversion of any time from official duties. Jones, although expressing concern with “the high respect that is owed to the office of the Chief Executive,” not only permitted discovery directed to the President but also obliged him to be subjected to a civil trial. 520 U.S. at 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636.76 In re Trump, 928 F.3d at 379–80, concerned a petition for mandamus directing a District Court to dismiss for lack of standing a complaint alleging violation of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses, U.S. Const. art I, § 9, cl. 8, art II, § 1, cl. 7.
The amicus brief not only repeats Appellants’ argument that the House must identify a legitimate legislative purpose for seeking the President’s information, but adds that it must do so “with sufficient particularity that courts can concretely review the validity of any potential legislation and determine whether the information
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requested is pertinent and necessary to Congress’s consideration of such legislation.” Br. for Amicus United States at 11. The meaning of this sentence is not clear. If it means that legislative purpose must be sufficiently identified to enable a court now to consider the validity of any legislation that might be enacted in the future, it would encounter the prohibition on advisory opinions. See Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 96, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968) (“[T]he rule against advisory opinions implements the separation of powers prescribed by the Constitution and confines federal courts to the role assigned them by Article III.”). On the other hand, if the sentence means that legislative purpose must be sufficiently identified so that it will serve as an aid in interpreting legislation that might be enacted in the future, there is no requirement that legislative purpose sufficient to support a congressional *671 subpoena must also suffice to aid a court in interpreting some statute yet to be enacted. In any event, the legislative purposes of the Committees’ subpoenas have been sufficiently identified.
Refining Appellants’ argument that the Committees’ valid legislative purposes have not been adequately identified, the amicus brief argues that “courts must assess ‘the connective reasoning whereby the precise questions asked relate to’ the legitimate legislative purpose.” Br. for Amicus United States at 14 (quoting Watkins, 354 U.S. at 215, 77 S.Ct. 1173). This quotation from Watkins is difficult to square with the Supreme Court’s later statement in McPhaul that subpoenaed documents need only be “not plainly incompetent or irrelevant to any lawful purpose [of a committee] in the discharge of its duties.” McPhaul, 364 U.S. at 381, 81 S.Ct. 138 (quotation marks and brackets omitted). It would appear that the “connective reasoning” phrase of Watkins, if still valid at all, is limited to the context in which it was said–a committee witness’s objection to a specific question–and not to a subpoena for adequately described categories of documents that are relevant to adequately identified valid legislative purposes of investigation.
The amicus brief argues that subpoenaed information “not ‘demonstrably critical’ should be deemed insufficiently pertinent when directed at the President’s records.” Br. for Amicus United States at 15 (quoting Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities v. Nixon, 498 F.2d 725, 731 (D.C. Cir. 1974) (in banc)). The D.C. Circuit used the phrase “demonstrably critical” as a standard for overcoming a claim of executive privilege. See Nixon, 498 F.2d at 727. President Nixon had asserted that tape recordings of his conversations with senior staff “cannot be made public consistent with the confidentiality

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essential to the functioning of the Office of the President.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). In the pending appeal, no claim of executive privilege has been made, much less a claim that withholding the subpoenaed documents is “essential to the functioning of the Office of the President.” Id.
The amicus brief asserts that “[c]ourts may require the Committees first ‘to narrow the scope of the subpoenas’ to first seek critical information in light of the President’s constitutional interests,” Br. for Amicus United States at 17 (ellipsis omitted) (quoting Cheney, 542 U.S. at 390, 124 S.Ct. 2576), and that “[c]ourts may require Congress first to determine whether records relevant to a legitimate legislative purpose are not, in fact, available from other sources that would not impinge on constitutional interests,” id. (citing Watkins, 354 U.S. at 206, 77 S.Ct. 1173). That argument has no application to the many documents that were generated by the Banks. Moreover, the District Court was not required to do what it “may” do,77 and the President’s “constitutional interests” are implicated when official documents are sought, as in Cheney, precipitating “a conflict between the [L]egislative and [E]xecutive [B]ranches,” AT&T I, 551 F.2d at 390.
The amicus brief contends that H.R. 507 is insufficient authorization for the subpoenas to the extent that it authorizes not only current subpoenas to the named persons *672 and entities but also future subpoenas to them. Br. for Amicus United States at 18. Because the pending appeal concerns denial of a preliminary injunction to prevent compliance with issued subpoenas, we make no determination with respect to future subpoenas.
In an overarching argument endeavoring to strengthen and make decisive many of the arguments just considered, the amicus brief urges the principle of constitutional avoidance. Confronting a constitutional challenge to a statute of uncertain meaning, courts sometimes interpret the statute so that it clearly comports with the Constitution. See, e.g., Crowell v. Benson, 285 U.S. 22, 62, 52 S.Ct. 285, 76 L.Ed. 598 (1932). Enlisting the principle of constitutional avoidance in the pending appeal, the amicus brief contends that the principle should persuade this Court to require the Committees to “ ‘explore other avenues’ ” for obtaining the information, Br. for Amicus United States at 3 (quoting Cheney, 542 U.S. at 390, 124 S.Ct. 2576); to require the District Court “to proceed in a more tailored manner,” id. at 5; to approach “with the utmost caution” the task of
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“balanc[ing] Congress’s interest in the information against any constitutional interests of the party withholding it,” id. at 16; and to require the District Court “to attempt to avoid a conflict between constitutional interests before it can ‘intervene responsibly,’ ” id. at 17–18 (quoting AT&T II, 567 F.2d at 131). The amicus brief also reminds us of the Supreme Court’s statement in Rumely suggesting “abstention from adjudication unless no choice is left.” 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543.
In the circumstances of this case, we do not believe that constitutional avoidance adds persuasive force to the arguments in the amicus brief. First, we question whether constitutional avoidance applies beyond the context of interpreting ambiguous statutes that are challenged as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court considered that question in an analogous situation in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., 556 U.S. 502, 129 S.Ct. 1800, 173 L.Ed.2d 738 (2009). Broadcasters urged the Court to apply to the FCC a more stringent arbitrary-and-capricious standard of review of agency actions that implicate constitutional liberties. See id. at 516, 129 S.Ct. 1800. In declining to do so, the Court said, “We know of no precedent for applying [the principle of constitutional avoidance] to limit the scope of authorized executive action.” Id. at 516, 129 S.Ct. 1800. Similarly, it is at least doubtful whether the principle should be enlisted to limit the scope of authorized congressional action.
Second, to the extent that decisions like Cheney and Rumely advised courts to proceed with caution, they did so in contexts quite different from the pending appeal. Cheney involved a real confrontation between the Legislative and Executive Branches; Rumely involved a “limitation imposed by the First Amendment,” 345 U.S. at 44, 73 S.Ct. 543. By contrast, the pending appeal involves solely private financial documents, and the Lead Plaintiff sues only in his individual capacity. The only defense even implicating the office of the presidency is the possibility that document disclosure might distract the Lead Plaintiff in the performance of his official duties, a risk we have concluded, in light of Supreme Court precedent, Clinton v. Jones, is minimal at best. Appellants make no claim that Congress or its committees are purporting to curb in any way the powers of the Executive Branch.
For all of these reasons, we see no reason to permit constitutional avoidance to provide added strength to the arguments of the amicus or Appellants themselves.

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
*673 Having considered Appellants’ statutory and constitutional claims, we conclude that they have not shown a likelihood of success on any of them. In reaching this conclusion, we recognize that we are essentially ruling on the ultimate merits of Appellants’ claims. But, as the Supreme Court has pointed out, “Adjudication of the merits is most appropriate if the injunction rests on a question of law and it is plain that the plaintiff cannot prevail.” Munaf v. Geren, 553 U.S. 674, 691, 128 S.Ct. 2207, 171 L.Ed.2d 1 (2008). That is the situation here.
III. Sufficiently Serious Questions to Make Them a Fair Ground for Litigation In considering the less rigorous serious-questions standard for a preliminary injunction, it is important to recognize that the first component of this standard, in addition to a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in favor of the moving party, is “sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation.” Kelly, 933 F.3d at 184 (emphasis added); Jackson Dairy, 596 F.2d at 72. The meaning of this emphasized phrase rarely receives explicit consideration. Two interpretations are possible.
The phrase could mean that the questions raised have sufficiently serious legal merit to be open to reasonable debate. That view of the phrase would be especially appropriate in those cases where the need for preliminary relief precipitously arose just prior to some impending event and the party seeking temporary relief has not had an adequate opportunity to fully develop its legal arguments. Alternatively, or in addition, the phrase could mean that the questions raised have sufficiently serious factual merit to warrant further investigation in discovery and, if summary judgment is not warranted, at trial.
In the pending appeal, the District Court stated, “The word ‘serious’ relates to a question that is both serious and open to reasonable debate.” J. App’x 150. But Judge Ramos declined to accept Appellants’ claim that just raising a constitutional objection to the subpoenas sufficed to render the claim serious. As he observed, if that sufficed, “every complaint challenging the power of one of the three coordinate branches of government would result in preliminary relief, regardless of whether established law renders the complaint unmeritorious.” Id.
Our case law indicates that the phrase “make them fair
25

ground for litigation” often refers to those factual disputes that can be resolved at trial only after investigation of the facts. We have stated that the questions raised by a plaintiff’s claims must be “so serious, substantial, difficult and doubtful as to make them a fair ground for litigation and thus for more deliberate investigation.” Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738, 740 (2d Cir. 1953) (emphasis added). The emphasized words appear to have originated in Hamilton Watch, but have been frequently repeated by this Court. See Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., 476 F.2d 687, 692, 93 (2d Cir. 1973); Checker Motors Corp. v. Chrysler Corp., 405 F.2d 319, 323 (2d Cir. 1969); Unicon Management Corp. v. Koppers Co., 366 F.2d 199, 205 (2d Cir. 1966). More recently, we pointed out in Citigroup Global Markets that a virtue of the serious-questions standard is “that it permits the entry of an injunction in cases where a factual dispute renders a fully reliable assessment of the merits impossible.” 598 F.3d at 36 (emphasis added). For example, in Jacobson & Co. v. Armstrong Cork Co., 548 F.2d 438 (2d Cir. 1977), we affirmed a preliminary injunction under the serious-questions standard because the plaintiff *674 had presented affidavits, depositions, and exhibits sufficient to contest the factual issue of the reason for an employee’s termination, see id. at 444.
We need not choose between these meanings of “fair ground for litigation.” Appellants are not entitled to a preliminary injunction under the serious-questions standard because (1) that standard, as we have discussed, see Part I, does not apply to preliminary injunctive relief sought to prevent governmental action, and (2) even if applicable, the standard requires a balance of hardships that tips decidedly to the plaintiff, a requirement not met in this case, see Point IV. We also point out that, to the extent that the serious-questions standard furnishes an opportunity to develop legal arguments concerning a reasonably debatable question, Appellants have fully developed their positions in the 95 pages of briefs they have submitted. To the extent that the serious-questions standard is available for factual development of an issue, Appellants have not identified a single factual issue that might warrant a trial or a single witness or document that might add substance to their claims at a trial.
Furthermore, both their statutory and constitutional claims, though serious in at least some sense, lack merit, and, because they both involve solely issues of law, are properly rejected at this stage of the litigation, see Munaf, 553 U.S. at 691–92, 128 S.Ct. 2207, except for the limited remand we have ordered.

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
IV. Balance of Hardships/Equities The hardship for Appellants if a preliminary injunction is denied would result from the loss of privacy for their financial documents. We have recognized that this loss of privacy is irreparable. In assessing the seriousness of that loss for purposes of determining the balance of hardships, we note that the loss will be somewhat mitigated to the extent that sensitive personal information and some documents will not be disclosed pursuant to the procedure we have ordered upon remand. The seriousness of the hardship arising from disclosure of the information called for by the subpoenas should be assessed in light of the fact that the Lead Plaintiff is already required to expose for public scrutiny a considerable amount of personal financial information pursuant to the financial disclosure requirement of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C. app. §§ 101–111, although considerably more financial information is required to be disclosed by the subpoenas.
The hardship for the Committees if a preliminary injunction is granted would result from the loss of time to consider and act upon the material disclosed pursuant to their subpoenas, which will expire at the end of the 116th Congress. This loss is also irreparable. In assessing the seriousness of that loss for purposes of determining the balance of hardships, we note that the Committees have already been delayed in the receipt of the subpoenaed material since April 11 when the subpoenas were issued. They need the remaining time to analyze the material, hold hearings, and draft bills for possible enactment.
Even if the balance of these hardships/equities tips in favor of Appellants, which is debatable, it does not do so “decidedly,” Kelly, 933 F.3d at 184; Jackson Dairy, 596 F.2d at 72, as our serious-questions standard requires.
V. Public Interest The public interest in vindicating the Committees’ constitutional authority is clear and substantial. It is the interest of two congressional committees, functioning under the authority of a resolution of the House of Representatives authorizing the *675 subpoenas at issue, to obtain information on enforcement of
26

anti-money-laundering/counter-financing of terrorism laws, terrorist financing, the movement of illicit funds through the global financial system including the real estate market, the scope of the Russian government’s operations to influence the U.S. political process, and whether the Lead Plaintiff was vulnerable to foreign exploitation. The opposing interests of Appellants, suing only in their private capacity, are primarily their private interests in nondisclosure of financial documents concerning their businesses, rather than intimate details of someone’s personal life or information the disclosure of which might, as in Watkins, 354 U.S. at 197–99, 77 S.Ct. 1173, chill someone’s freedom of expression.
We recognize, however, that the privacy interests supporting nondisclosure of documents reflecting financial transactions of the Lead Plaintiff should be accorded more significance than those of an ordinary citizen because the Lead Plaintiff is the President. Although the documents are not official records of the Executive Branch, the Lead Plaintiff is not suing in his official capacity, and no executive privilege has been asserted, disclosure of the subpoenaed documents can be expected to risk at least some distraction of the Nation’s Chief Executive in the performance of his official duties. See Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 753, 102 S.Ct. 2690, 73 L.Ed.2d 349 (1982) (noting risk of distraction as one reason for establishing immunity of President from civil liability for official actions). That concern, we note, did not dissuade the Supreme Court from requiring President Nixon to comply with a district court’s subpoena to produce tape recordings of conversations with senior staff, see United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974), or requiring President Clinton to submit to discovery, including a deposition, in civil litigation involving pre-presidential conduct, see Jones, 520 U.S. at 697–706, 117 S.Ct. 1636.78 See also Trump v. Vance, 941 F.3d 631, 641 n. 12 (2d Cir. 2019) (concluding that “the disclosure of personal financial information, standing alone, is unlikely to impair the President in performing the duties of his office”), petition for cert. filed, No. 19-635 (U.S. Nov. 14, 2019).
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.

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
Conclusion
For all of these reasons, we conclude that under the applicable likelihood-of-success standard, Appellants’ motion for a preliminary injunction was properly denied, except as to disclosure of any documents that might be determined to be appropriate for withholding from disclosure pursuant to our limited remand. The serious-questions standard is inapplicable, *676 the balance of hardships does not tip decidedly in favor of Appellants, and the public interest favors denial of a preliminary injunction.
We affirm the District Court’s order in substantial part to the extent that it denied a preliminary injunction and order prompt compliance with the subpoenas, except that the case is remanded to a limited extent for implementation of the procedure set forth in this opinion concerning the nondisclosure of sensitive personal information and a limited opportunity for Appellants to object to disclosure of other specific documents within the coverage of those paragraphs of the subpoenas listed in this opinion. The mandate shall issue forthwith, but compliance with the three subpoenas and the procedure to be implemented on remand is stayed for seven days to afford Appellants an opportunity to apply to the Supreme Court or a Justice thereof for an extension of the stay.
Debra Ann Livingston, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
Although not expressly provided for in the Constitution, Congress’s power to conduct investigations for the purpose of legislating is substantial, “as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution.” Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491, 504 n.15, 95 S.Ct. 1813, 44 L.Ed.2d 324 (1975) (quoting Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109, 111, 79 S.Ct. 1081, 3 L.Ed.2d 1115 (1959)). Yet this power is not unlimited. When Congress conducts investigations in aid of legislation, its authority derives from its responsibility to legislate—to consider the enactment of new laws or the improvement of existing ones for the public good.1 Congress has no power to expose personal information for the sake of exposure, see Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 200, 77 S.Ct. 1173, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273 (1957) (expressing “no doubt that there is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure” (emphasis
27

added)), nor may it seek information to enforce laws or punish for their infraction—responsibilities which belong to the executive and judicial branches respectively, and not to it. Id. at 187, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (noting that Congress is neither “a law enforcement [n]or trial agency,” as “[t]hese are functions of the executive and judicial departments of government”). As the Supreme Court has put it: “No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress. Investigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible.” Id.
The legislative subpoenas here are deeply troubling. Targeted at the President of the United States but issued to third parties, they seek voluminous financial information not only about the President personally, but his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his business organizations, *677 and his business associates.2 Collectively, the subpoenas seek personal and business banking records stretching back nearly a decade (and with regard to several categories of information, with no time limitation whatsoever) and they make no distinction between business and personal affairs, nor consistently between large and small receipts and expenditures. To be sure, breadth may be necessary in legislative subpoenas so that Congress can learn about a proposed subject of legislation sufficiently to enact new laws or improve the old ones: such learning is “an indispensable ingredient of lawmaking.”3 Eastland, 421 U.S. at 505, 95 S.Ct. 1813. Still, the district court was of the view that in a routine civil case, it would have sent the parties into a room with the instruction that “you don’t come out until you come back with a reasonable subpoena.” J.A. at 94. The majority doesn’t disagree. It, too, characterizes the subpoenas as “surely broad in scope.” Maj. Op. at 650. It acknowledges that compliance will “subject [the President’s] private business affairs to the Committees’ scrutiny,” id. at 48, 73 S.Ct. 543, and impose irreparable harm, id. at 13. It could have added that personal banking records of the President and his family are not excluded, and that neither House committee seeking this information will commit to treating any portion of it as confidential, irrespective of any public interest in disclosure. J.A. at 122–23.
The majority and I are in agreement on several points. First, we agree that the Right to Financial Privacy Act (“RFPA”), 12 U.S.C. §§ 3401–3423, does not apply to Congress because, as the majority correctly concludes, Congress is not a “Government authority” within the meaning of that statute. Maj. Op. at 641–45. We likewise

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

agree that 26 U.S.C. § 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code does not pose an obstacle to Deutsche Bank AG’s disclosure of tax returns in its possession in response to the Committees’ subpoenas. Id. at 645–50. Accordingly, I concur that, as to the statutory arguments presented by the Plaintiffs, they have raised no serious question suggesting that the House subpoenas may not be enforced.

The statutory arguments, however, are not the only

arguments presented. The majority and I agree that this

appeal raises an important issue regarding the

investigative authority of two committees of the United

States House of Representatives—the House Committee

on Financial Services and the House Permanent Select

Committee

on

Intelligence

(collectively,

“Committees”)—in the context of their efforts to obtain

voluminous personal and business banking records of the

President of the United States, members of his immediate

family, his primary business organization and affiliated

entities, and his business associates. Maj. Op. at 632–33.

In fact, the question before us appears not only important

(as the majority acknowledges) but of first impression: the

parties are unaware of any Congress before this one in

which a standing or permanent *678 select committee of

the House has issued a third-party subpoena for

documents targeting a President’s personal information

solely on the rationale that this information is “in aid of

legislation.” Trump Br. at 14; Tr. of Oral Arg. at

34:24–35:3–4. But this House has now authorized all

such House committees to issue legislative subpoenas of

this sort, so long as directed at information involving this

President, his immediate family, business entities, or

organizations. H.R. Res. 507, 116th Cong. (2019); see

also H.R. Res. 509, 116th Cong. § 3 (2019) (“House

Resolution 507 is hereby adopted.”).

In such a context, “experience admonishes us to tread warily.” United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41, 46, 73 S.Ct. 543, 97 L.Ed. 770 (1953). I agree with the majority that our review of the denial of a preliminary injunction is “appropriately more exacting where the action sought to be enjoined concerns the President ... in view of ‘[t]he high respect that is owed to the office of the Chief Executive,’ ” Maj. Op. at 635(quoting Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court, 542 U.S. 367, 385, 124 S.Ct. 2576, 159 L.Ed.2d 459 (2004)). We disagree, however, as to the preliminary injunction standard to be applied. In my view, a preliminary injunction may issue in a case of this sort when a movant has demonstrated sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation, plus a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in that party’s favor, that the public interest
28

favors an injunction, and that the movant, as here, will otherwise suffer irreparable harm. See Citigroup Glob. Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 35, 38 (2d Cir. 2010).
And as to the merits showing, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s determination that the Plaintiffs’ constitutional arguments and those raised by the United States as amicus curiae are insubstantial—not sufficiently serious for closer review.4 Maj. Op. at 669–73. I cannot accept the majority’s conclusions that “this case does not concern separation of powers,” id. at 669, and that there is “minimal at best” risk of distraction to this and future Presidents from legislative subpoenas of this sort, id. at 672–73. Instead, I conclude that the Plaintiffs have raised serious questions on the merits, implicating not only Congress’s lawmaking powers, but also the ability of this and future Presidents to discharge the duties of the Office of the President free of myriad inquiries instigated “more casually and less responsibly” than contemplated in our constitutional framework. Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543.
Nor do I agree with the majority’s determination substantially to affirm the judgment and order compliance with these subpoenas. The majority itself recognizes that these broad subpoenas cannot be enforced precisely as drafted because they call for the production of material that may either bear “an attenuated relationship” to any legislative purpose or that “might [even] reveal sensitive personal details having no relationship to the Committees’ legislative purposes.” Maj. Op. at 667 (emphasis added). The majority remands *679 for a culling process pursuant to which information disclosing, for instance, the payment of medical expenses would be exempt from disclosure. Id. The majority’s limited culling, however, is tightly restricted to specified categories of information, leaving out almost all “business-related financial documents” from any review by the district court, id., irrespective of any threatened harm from disclosure, and potentially leaving out substantial personal information as well. Indeed, given the tight limitations imposed by the majority on the district court’s review, even sensitive records reflecting personal matters unrelated to any conceivable legislative purpose could potentially be disclosed.
I agree with the majority that remand is necessary. But we disagree as to the reasons why. I conclude that the present record is insufficient to support the majority’s determination that the voluminous records of Plaintiffs sought from Deutsche Bank AG (“Deutsche Bank”) and

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124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
Capital One Financial Corporation (“Capital One”) should at this time be produced.5 The majority concludes in advance—before these records have been assembled—that only a select “few documents” will implicate privacy concerns or bear “such an attenuated relationship” to any legislative purpose that “they need not be disclosed.” Maj. Op. at 667 (emphasis added). I disagree that the present record is sufficient to make that determination or to conclude, more fundamentally, where the balance of hardships lies with regard to the preliminary relief that the Plaintiffs seek. In this sensitive separation-of-powers context, serious questions have been raised as to the historical precedent for these subpoenas; whether Congress has employed procedures sufficient to “prevent the separation of power from responsibility,” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 215, 77 S.Ct. 1173, in seeking this President’s personal information; and whether the subpoenas are supported by valid legislative purposes and seek information reasonably pertinent to those purposes, see Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 161, 75 S.Ct. 668, 99 L.Ed. 964 (1955) (noting that Congress’s power to investigate “cannot be used to inquire into private affairs unrelated to a valid legislative purpose”). These questions, like the balance of hardship question, also require further review.
As set forth herein, I would remand, directing the district court promptly to implement a procedure by which the Plaintiffs may lodge their objections to disclosure with regard to specific portions of the assembled material and so that the Committees can clearly articulate, also with regard to specific categories of information, the legislative purpose that supports disclosure and the pertinence of such information to that purpose. The objective of this remand is the creation of a record that is sufficient more closely to examine the serious questions that the Plaintiffs have raised and to determine where the balance of hardships lies with regard to an injunction in this case, and concerning particular categories of information. The district court acknowledged that in a routine civil case, it would not have ordered the disclosures here. The majority errs in implicitly concluding that a President has less protection from the unreasonable disclosure of his personal and business affairs than would be afforded any litigant in a civil case.
Only on the basis of this fuller record would I determine the question whether a *680 preliminary injunction should have issued, and with regard to what portions of the records sought. In reaching this conclusion, I am guided by the Supreme Court’s counsel in Rumely that in the context of delicate constitutional issues involving
29

limits on the investigative power of Congress, our duty is to avoid pronouncement “unless no choice is left.” Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543; cf. Cheney, 542 U.S. at 389–90, 124 S.Ct. 2576 (suggesting that courts should “explore other avenues” to avoid adjudicating “overly broad discovery requests” and “unnecessarily broad subpoenas” that present “collision course” conflicts between coequal branches). Indeed, Rumely affirms that the duty of constitutional avoidance is “even more applicable” in the context of congressional investigations “than to formal legislation.” Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543; see also Tobin v. United States, 306 F.2d 270, 275 (D.C. Cir. 1962) (recognizing duty of courts in appropriate circumstances to avoid “passing on serious constitutional questions” presented by Congress’s exercise of its investigative power). Decision here may be required, but is premature on the present record.

Remand will also afford the parties an opportunity to negotiate. This is not the essential point of the remand I propose, but efforts at negotiation in this context are to be encouraged, since they may narrow the scope of these subpoenas, and thus avoid judicial pronouncement on the “broad confrontation now tendered.” United States v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co (AT&T I), 551 F.2d 384, 395 (D.C. Cir. 1976). The Plaintiffs have repeatedly sought the opportunity to negotiate. Reply Br. at 6–7; Tr. of Oral Arg. at 17:18–19, 18:3–20, 66:7-67:2. And the Committees, while preferring the more immediate disposition that the majority affords them, have expressed a willingness to attempt negotiation on an expedited basis if requested by this Court.6 Tr. of Oral Arg. at 46:8–19.

To be clear, and as set forth herein, the Plaintiffs have

raised serious questions on the merits as to these

subpoenas,

which

implicate

profound

separation-of-powers concerns.7 But pending the full

remand *681 that I outline herein, I defer for now the

question whether they have also shown a balance of

hardships tipping decidedly in their favor. The remainder

of this opinion sets out the reasons for my conclusions:

(1) that the Plaintiffs have raised serious constitutional

questions as to these legislative subpoenas; and (2) that

the serious question formulation of the preliminary

injunction standard is applicable, contrary to the

majority’s position.

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
I
A
To reiterate, the subpoenas here are very troubling. Congress “cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 504, 95 S.Ct. 1813. At the same time, ill-conceived inquiries by congressional committees “can lead to ruthless exposure of private lives in order to gather data” that is unrelated and unhelpful to the performance of legislative tasks. Watkins, 354 U.S. at 205, 77 S.Ct. 1173. And the “arduous and delicate task” of courts seeking to accommodate “the congressional need for particular information” with the individual’s “personal interest in privacy,” id. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173, does not grow easier when Congress seeks a President’s personal information. Indeed, given the “unique constitutional position of the President” in our scheme of government, see Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 800, 112 S.Ct. 2767, 120 L.Ed.2d 636 (1992), and the grave importance of diligent and fearless discharge of the President’s public duties, our task grows more difficult. See Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 753, 102 S.Ct. 2690, 73 L.Ed.2d 349 (1982) (recognizing that distraction from public duties is “to the detriment of not only the President and his office but also the Nation that the Presidency was designed to serve”).
The majority disagrees. It concludes that this case “does not concern separation of powers” because the sought-after records are personal, not official, and because Congress “has not arrogated to itself any authority of the Executive Branch,” nor “sought to limit any authority of the Executive Branch.” Maj. Op. at 669. With respect, however, this conclusion gives too short shrift to the Supreme Court’s analysis in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 117 S.Ct. 1636, 137 L.Ed.2d 945 (1997), on which the majority principally relies. There, the Supreme Court concluded that *682 permitting a civil case to go forward “relat[ing] entirely to the unofficial conduct of the individual who happens to be the President” did not represent a per se impermissible intrusion by the federal judiciary on executive power and that the doctrine of separation of powers did not impose a categorical rule that all such private actions must be
30

stayed against the President while in office. Id. at 701, 705–06, 117 S.Ct. 1636. At the same time, however, the Court recognized that it is insufficient that a branch “not arrogate power to itself”: “the separation-of-powers doctrine [also] requires that a branch not impair another in the performance of its constitutional duties.” Id. at 701, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (emphasis added) (quoting Loving v. United States, 517 U.S. 748, 757, 116 S.Ct. 1737, 135 L.Ed.2d 36 (1996)); see also Nixon v. Admin’r of Gen. Servs., 433 U.S. 425, 443–45, 97 S.Ct. 2777, 53 L.Ed.2d 867 (1977). And as for the judiciary in the context of private litigation against a sitting President, “[t]he high respect that is owed to the office of the Chief Executive,” the Court recognized, “though not justifying a rule of categorical immunity, is a matter that should inform the conduct of the entire proceeding, including the timing and scope of discovery.” Id. at 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636; see also Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 751–56, 102 S.Ct. 2690 (noting that the “special nature of the President’s constitutional office and functions,” id. at 756, 102 S.Ct. 2690, and the “singular importance,” id. at 751, 102 S.Ct. 2690, of her duties require particular “deference and restraint,” id. at 753, 102 S.Ct. 2690, in the conduct of litigation involving the President).
The majority concludes that legislative subpoenas to third parties targeting a President’s personal or financial information, however broad and tangentially connected to any legislative purpose, do not seriously implicate separation of powers on the theory that “any concern arising from the risk of distraction in the performance of the [President’s] official duties is minimal,” Maj. Op. at 670, perhaps less than that, id. at 674–76, at least as compared to the potential burden of standing trial in a civil case while President, which Jones held is not categorically prohibited by separation-of-powers concerns.8 But this analysis is flawed in two key respects.
First, the Jones Court concluded that the burden in that case—namely, a civil suit against the President while in office—did not categorically constitute a “constitutionally forbidden impairment of the Executive’s ability to perform its constitutionally mandated functions” in light of the long history of judicial review of executive action and of presidential amenability to judicial process. 520 U.S. at 702, 117 S.Ct. 1636; see also id. at 701–06, 117 S.Ct. 1636. In assessing the separation-of-powers issue, the Court heavily weighed the pragmatic *683 accommodation between the judiciary and the executive demonstrated by longstanding interbranch practice. See id. at 704–05, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (discussing historical practice and the manner in which the judiciary has

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019)
124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
permissibly burdened the Executive Branch). It directed inferior courts that even as it rejected a rule of categorical immunity, the President’s unique role in the constitutional framework should inform the entire conduct of any civil action, id. at 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636, and that “the availability of sanctions” would “provide[ ] a significant deterrent to litigation directed at the President in his unofficial capacity for purposes of political gain or harassment,” id. at 708–09, 117 S.Ct. 1636. The Jones Court was thus solicitous of separation-of-powers concerns in the context of litigation over a President’s personal conduct; moreover, it continued a long tradition of placing “great weight” on historical practice in addressing questions “concern[ing] the allocation of power between two ... branches of Government,” NLRB v. Noel Canning, 573 U.S. 513, 524, 134 S.Ct. 2550, 189 L.Ed.2d 538 (2014) (quoting The Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655, 689, 49 S.Ct. 463, 73 L.Ed. 894 (1929)).9
Here, the parties have not identified, and my own search has failed to unearth, any previous example, in any previous Congress, of a standing or permanent select committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate using compulsory process to obtain documents containing a President’s personal information from a third party in aid of legislation. Trump Br. at 14; Tr. of Oral Arg. at 34:24–35:4. Historical practice instead suggests that, on the few past occasions on which a President’s personal documents have been subpoenaed from third parties, such requests have emanated either from a special committee established and authorized to pursue a specific, limited investigation or from a committee proceeding under the impeachment power.10 It is possible that a *684 contrary example exists. But the historical precedent for the congressional subpoenas here, in contrast to the judicial processes assessed in Jones, is sparse at best, and perhaps nonexistent.11 And this paucity of historical practice alone is reason for courts to pause in assessing this dispute between a President and two House committees.12
The second flaw in the majority’s analysis lies in its assumption that third-party subpoenas of this sort pose, at best, “minimal” risk of distraction to this and future Presidents. Maj. Op. at 669–70. Contrary to the majority’s suggestion, it is not at all difficult to conceive how standing committees exercising the authority to issue third-party subpoenas in aid of legislation might significantly burden presidents with myriad inquiries into their business, personal, and family affairs. See Watkins, 354 U.S. at 205, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (recognizing potential for “ruthless exposure of private lives” by committees seeking information “neither desired by the Congress nor
31

useful to it”); cf. Jones, 520 U.S. at 701–02, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (considering the likelihood that frivolous civil litigation against the President could overly burden the Executive Branch). Jones relied on the relative rarity of civil litigation against past presidents to discount concerns of distraction, see 520 U.S. at 702, 117 S.Ct. 1636, but the subjects on which legislation might be had are vast.13 And the risk of undue distraction *685 from ill-conceived inquiries might be particularly acute today, in an era in which (as the Supreme Court and individual Justices have repeatedly acknowledged) digital technologies have lodged an increasingly large fraction of even our most intimate information in third-party hands. See, e.g., Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373, 395, 134 S.Ct. 2473, 189 L.Ed.2d 430 (2014) (discussing how “Internet search and browsing history” can “reveal an individual’s private interests or concerns”); Carpenter v. United States, ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S. Ct. 2206, 2261, 201 L.Ed.2d 507 (2018) (acknowledging “powerful private companies” collecting “vast quantities of data about the lives of ordinary Americans”) (Alito, J., dissenting); United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 417, 132 S.Ct. 945, 181 L.Ed.2d 911 (2012) (noting that in the digital age, “people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks”) (Sotomayor, J., concurring).
To be clear, this is not to suggest that a President is immune from legislative subpoenas into personal matters—not at all. But as the D.C. Circuit recognized in Trump v. Mazars (while concluding that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform possessed authority to issue a legislative subpoena to President Trump’s accounting firm), “separation-of-powers concerns still linger in the air” with regard to such subpoenas. Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 940 F.3d 710, 726 (D.C. Cir. 2019). And in such a circumstance, there is reason to conclude that courts must not only undertake the “arduous and delicate task” of “[a]ccommodat[ing] ... the congressional need for particular information with the individual and personal interest in privacy,” Maj. Op. at 652 (quoting Watkins, 354 U.S. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173). They must also take on the equally sensitive task of ensuring that Congress, in seeking the President’s personal information in aid of legislation, has employed “procedures which prevent the separation of power from responsibility,” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 215, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (discussing such procedures in the context of a threat to individual rights from congressional investigations), and which ensure due consideration to the separation-of-powers concerns that the Supreme Court identified and deemed essential for judicial respect in Jones. See Jones, 520 U.S. at 707, 117

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S.Ct. 1636 (noting that “high respect that is owed to the office of the Chief Executive,” while not mandating categorical immunity from suit for private conduct while in office, should “inform the conduct of the entire proceeding, including the timing and scope of discovery”); Cheney, 542 U.S. at 385, 124 S.Ct. 2576 (noting that President’s “constitutional responsibilities and status [are] factors counseling judicial deference and restraint” in conduct of litigation) (quoting Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 753, 102 S.Ct. 2690 (alteration in Cheney)).
*686 B
These subpoenas are deeply problematic when considered against the backdrop of these separation-of-powers concerns. In fact, this much is evident from even cursory consideration of the differences between the present case and Mazars, the only other precedent directly addressing a legislative subpoena served on a third party and seeking a President’s personal financial information.14 In Mazars, the D.C. Circuit recently upheld a legislative subpoena directed at the President’s accounting firm, concluding that it had properly issued in connection with the consideration of changes to laws relating to financial disclosures required of Presidents.15 Mazars, 940 F.3d at 748. At the same time, the Mazars Court pointedly suggested that the articulation of just any rationale for concluding that a sitting President’s personal information might inform a committee in considering potential legislation is not enough to state a valid legislative purpose:
Just as a congressional committee could not subpoena the President’s high school transcripts in service of an investigation into K-12 education, nor subpoena his medical records as part of an investigation into public health, it may not subpoena his financial information except to facilitate an investigation into presidential finances.
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Id. at 733. Key to the result in Mazars, then (and assuming, arguendo, that it was correctly decided) was the majority’s conclusion that there was “no inherent constitutional flaw in laws requiring Presidents to publicly disclose financial information” and that the subpoena on its face thus properly sought relevant information “about a subject on which legislation may be had.” Id. at 737 (quoting Eastland, 421 U.S. at 508, 95 S.Ct. 1813).
This case is significantly different, at least as to the subpoenas issued by the Committee on Financial Services. This Committee seeks a universe of financial records sufficient to reconstruct over a decade of the President’s business and personal affairs, not in connection with the consideration of legislation involving the Chief Executive, but because the President, his family, and his businesses present a “useful case study,” according to the Committee, for an inquiry into the lending practices of institutions such as Deutsche Bank and Capital One.16 District Court *687 Doc. No. 51 at 25. More specifically, the Committee is investigating “whether existing policies and programs at financial institutions are adequate to ensure the safety and soundness of lending practices and the prevention of loan fraud,” id. at 12, as well as “industry-wide compliance with banking statutes and regulations, particularly anti-money laundering policies,” id. at 13. The Committee urges that “[b]ecause of his prominence, much is already known about Mr. Trump, his family, and his business, and this public record establishes that they serve as a useful case study for the broader problems” under its consideration.17 Id. at 25. The majority endorses this statement of legislative purpose and intimates (albeit with no evidence in the record before us) that past transactions between Deutsche Bank and the President in his pre-presidential business life may have violated banking regulations and that “no other bank would extend credit” to President Trump. Maj. Op. at 662–63 n.67, 663.
To be sure, legislative subpoenas issue not when all is known, but on the reasonable theory that “[a] legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively” without obtaining “information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change.” Eastland, 421 U.S. at 504, 95 S.Ct. 1813 (quoting McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135, 175, 47 S.Ct. 319, 71 L.Ed. 580 (1927) (alteration in Eastland)). But the rationale proffered for these subpoenas of the House Financial Services Committee falls far short of demonstrating a clear reason why a congressional investigation aimed generally at closing regulatory loopholes in the banking

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system need focus on over a decade of financial information regarding this President, his family, and his business affairs.18 Nor does the proffered rationale reveal how the broad purposes pursued by the Committee are consistent with the granular detail that these subpoenas seek. See Watkins, 354 U.S. at 204, 77 S.Ct. 1173 (noting the troubling tendency of some legislative investigations to “probe for a depth of detail ... removed from any basis of legislative action” and to “turn their attention to the past to collect minutiae on remote topics”).
This is a reason for pause. As suggested by Judge Katsas in his dissent from the denial of rehearing in banc in Mazars, the “uncompromising extension of McGrain v. Daugherty” to this new context raises the serious question whether future Presidents will be routinely subject to the distraction of third-party subpoenas emanating *688 from standing committees in aid of legislation—a practice for which there is scant historical precedent, as already discussed. Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 941 F.3d 1180, 1181 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (Katsas, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc). Some case study rationale (in this instance, to learn whether regulators were adequately equipped to scrutinize Deutsche Bank’s and Capital One’s lending practices in relation to the President before he obtained the Office of Chief Executive) will always be present. But the regular issuance of third-party legislative subpoenas by single committees of one House of Congress targeting a President’s personal information would be something new, potentially impairing public perceptions of the legislative branch by fueling perceptions that standing committees are engaged, not in legislating, but in opposition research.19 More relevant here, such investigative practices by Congress, undertaken “more casually and less responsibly” than is the constitutional ideal, see Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543, pose a serious threat to “presidential autonomy and independence,” Mazars, 941 F.3d at 1181 (Katsas, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc). And this is a substantial concern in our constitutional scheme, which relies on the proposition that the occupant of the Office of Chief Executive is positioned to “ ‘deal fearlessly and impartially with’ [its] duties,” even as Presidents may be “easily identifiable target[s]” of legal process, personally vulnerable by virtue of the “visibility of [the] office and the effect of [their] actions on countless people.” Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 752–53, 102 S.Ct. 2690 (quoting Ferri v. Ackerman, 444 U.S. 193, 203, 100 S.Ct. 402, 62 L.Ed.2d 355 (1979)).
To be sure, the third subpoena to Deutsche Bank, which is identical to the Deutsche Bank subpoena issued by the
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Committee on Financial Services, emanates from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is more closely linked to the consideration of legislation related to the Office of the Chief Executive and to this President’s affairs, as a recent candidate.20 The majority is correct, moreover, *689 that once presented with adequate evidence of legislative authorization and purposes, it is not the province of courts to inquire into legislators’ motives, see Maj. Op. at 652–53, and that “motives alone would not vitiate an investigation which had been instituted by a House of Congress if that assembly’s legislative purpose is being served.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
At the same time, as the majority also affirms, the record must provide “sufficient evidence of legislative authorization and purposes to enable meaningful judicial review.” Maj. Op. at 654. And this is particularly the case when a congressional investigation even potentially trenches upon constitutional limits on Congress’s investigative power. See Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543 (noting that such limits should be identified by courts only after “Congress has ... unequivocally authoriz[ed] an inquiry of dubious limits”). Indeed, in such circumstances, the Supreme Court has made clear that courts are to look to the “instructions to an investigating committee,” as “embodied in the authorizing resolution,” to ascertain whether the legislative assembly has “assay[ed] the relative necessity of specific disclosures.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 201, 206, 77 S.Ct. 1173. Considered in light of the separation-of-powers concerns that persist with regard to these subpoenas, the Plaintiffs have raised a serious question on this front as well.
As to both the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committee subpoenas, there is an open question as to whether these subpoenas have been authorized by the House of Representatives in a manner permitting this Court to determine whether they are “in furtherance of ... a legitimate task of the Congress.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 187, 77 S.Ct. 1173. As the Watkins Court explained, “[t]he theory of a committee inquiry is that the committee members are serving as the representatives of the parent assembly in collecting information for a legislative purpose” and that “the House or Senate shall have instructed the committee members on what they are to do with the power delegated to them.” Id. at 200–01, 77 S.Ct. 1173. The majority acknowledges Watkins’s requirement that an authorizing resolution “spell out [an investigating committee’s] jurisdiction and purpose with sufficient particularity” as to ensure that “compulsory process is used only in furtherance of a legislative purpose.” Id. at

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201, 77 S.Ct. 1173; see Maj. Op. at 653, 665–66. Critically, moreover, the majority itself recognizes that “[i]t is not clear whether this passage can be satisfied” with regard to these subpoenas by the principal instruction in place here, at the time the subpoenas issued: namely, the instruction “that the House gives to a committee pursuant to a House rule defining a standing committee’s continuing jurisdiction.” Maj. Op. at 653.
The majority treats House Resolution 507 as the cure-all solution to this key uncertainty, rejecting the Plaintiffs’ argument that it is not properly considered on the subject of legislative authorization and purposes because it issued after the subpoenas themselves.21 But House Resolution *690 507 falls far short of a specific “authorizing resolution” issued to make clear that a designated committee is to undertake an investigation on a particular subject within its domain. To be sure, McGrain found sufficient a resolution that did not “in terms avow that it [was] intended to be in aid of legislation,” on the theory that “the subject-matter was such that [a] presumption should be indulged” that legislating “was the real object.” 273 U.S. at 177–78, 47 S.Ct. 319. But in a context like this, presenting serious constitutional concerns, courts “have adopted the policy of construing ... resolutions ... narrowly, in order to obviate the necessity of passing on serious constitutional questions.” Tobin, 306 F.2d at 274–75. And this resolution on its face discusses none of the subpoenas here, nor even the work of the committees from which they issued. Instead, House Resolution 507 authorizes any subpoena, by any standing or permanent select committee, already issued or in the future to be issued, so long as it concerns the President, his family, or his business entities and organizations:
Resolved, That the House of Representatives ratifies and affirms all current and future investigations, as well as all subpoenas previously issued or to be issued in the future, by any standing or permanent select committee of the House, pursuant to its jurisdiction as established by the Constitution of the United States and rules X and XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, concerning or issued directly or indirectly to —
(1) the President in his personal or official capacity;
(2) his immediate family, business entities, or organizations;
...
(9) any third party seeking information involving, referring, or related to any individual or entity
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described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
H.R. Res. 507, 116th Cong. (2019); see also H.R. Res. 509, 116th Cong. § 3 (2019) (“House Resolution 507 is hereby adopted”).
By purporting to authorize third-party subpoenas for any and all past and future investigations into the President’s personal and official business, Resolution 507 would appear to run directly into the primary concern in Watkins that “[b]roadly drafted and loosely worded” resolutions can “leave tremendous latitude to the discretion of investigators,” 354 U.S. at 201, 77 S.Ct. 1173, and thus permit committees “in essence, to define [their] own authority,” id. at 205, 77 S.Ct. 1173. As Watkins emphasized, “[a]n essential premise” underlying the investigatory powers of a congressional committee to compel the production of documents or attendance by an individual “is that the House or Senate shall have instructed the committee members on what they are to do with the power delegated to them.” Id. at 201, 77 S.Ct. 1173. Absent that instruction, such subpoenas defy judicial review, the Watkins Court understood, because “it is impossible ... to declare that [a committee] has ranged beyond the *691 area committed to it by its parent assembly.” Id. at 205, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
To be clear, Watkins addressed this problem in the context of a House proceeding implicating a private citizen’s constitutional liberties, and not separation of powers. But its caution is still relevant: that “excessively broad charter[s]” to investigating committees make it difficult, if not impossible, for courts “to ascertain whether any legislative purpose justifies the disclosures sought and, if so, the importance of that information to the Congress in furtherance of its legislative function.” Id. at 205–06, 77 S.Ct. 1173. With respect, the majority thus errs in dismissing the Department of Justice’s concern that the blank-check approach adopted here to authorizing third-party subpoenas seeking personal information about the President and his family represents “a failure of the House to exercise ‘preliminary control of the Committee[s],’ ” see Brief of United States as Amicus Curiae at 19 (quoting Watkins, 354 U.S. at 203, 77 S.Ct. 1173)—a failure which not only throws into question the adequacy of authorization in this case, but which also raises significant issues for the future regarding interbranch balance and the ability of this and future Presidents to perform their duties without undue distraction, id. at 5–7; see Jones, 520 U.S. at 690, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (noting that “representations made on behalf of the Executive Branch as to the potential impact” of

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inquiries on the Office of the President “merit our respectful and deliberate consideration”).22 In short, Resolution 507 itself, given its retrospective and prospective nature, and its purported authorization of any and all third-party committee subpoenas seeking not only official, but personal information about the President, his family, and his businesses, presents a serious question as to whether the House has discharged its “responsibility ... in the first instance, to insure that compulsory process is used only in furtherance of a legislative purpose.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 201, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
II
These third-party legislative subpoenas thus raise serious questions on the merits, implicating substantial separation-of-powers concerns. In such a context, Rumely’s caution kicks in, which “counsel[s] abstention from adjudication unless no choice is left.” 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543. The majority disagrees, asserting that even assuming *692 serious questions regarding the separation of powers have been raised, affirmance here is still required because our “serious questions” approach to whether a preliminary injunction should issue is unavailable in the context of these third-party legislative subpoenas.23 I have already outlined my disagreement with the majority’s determination that “this case does not concern separation of powers,” Maj. Op. at 669, and that the questions raised, even if “serious in at least some sense, lack merit,” id. at 674. I also disagree as to the supposed unavailability of our traditional preliminary injunction approach. Indeed, I conclude, with respect, that the majority badly errs in deciding that this approach is unavailable in the sensitive context of challenges to congressional subpoenas.
As the Supreme Court made clear in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., “[a] plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008). The majority acknowledges that, as to the required merits showing, we have repeatedly said in this Circuit that “district courts may grant a preliminary injunction where a plaintiff ...
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meets either of two standards: ‘(a) a likelihood of success on the merits, or (b) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation.’ ” Maj. Op. at 635–(quoting Kelly v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 933 F.3d 173, 184 (2d Cir. 2019)). When a plaintiff has demonstrated only “serious questions” as to the merits, however, the plaintiff has a higher burden as to the third element: he must show that the balance of hardships tips decidedly in his favor. See Kelly, 933 F.3d at 184; Maj. Op. at 635–36. The majority also acknowledges that we have reaffirmed our traditional approach in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Winter. See Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 38 (“hold[ing] that our venerable standard for assessing a movant’s probability of success on the merits remains valid”).24 Irreparable harm is not in *693 question in this case, moreover, because, inter alia, the Plaintiffs have an interest in keeping their banking records private from Congress and neither House committee will commit to treating any portion of the voluminous personal and business records that they seek as confidential. J.A. at 122–23. In such circumstances, the majority and I are in agreement that compliance with these subpoenas will cause irreparable harm to the President, his family, his businesses, and his business associates. Maj. Op. at 636–37.
The majority asserts that a preliminary injunction is nonetheless unavailable based on our “serious questions” formulation of the merits inquiry because of the so-called “government action exception” to this formulation, as expressed by this Court’s decision in Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc. v. Perales, 878 F.2d 577, 580 (2d Cir. 1989). I disagree. To be sure, our case law has recognized three narrowly defined situations in which a movant cannot obtain a preliminary injunction under the “serious questions” formulation. See id.; Tom Doherty Assocs., Inc. v. Saban Entm’t, Inc., 60 F.3d 27, 33–34 (2d Cir. 1995); Abdul Wali v. Coughlin, 754 F.2d 1015, 1025 (2d Cir. 1985). But Plaza Health, on which the majority relies, is not applicable.
To explain my conclusion requires a step back from our traditional formulation, to set forth why this Circuit was correct to reaffirm our serious question approach—and, indeed, why we err today in expanding a formulaic exception to it. While sometimes styled in our case law as its own “standard,” see, e.g., Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Fin. Servs., 769 F.3d 105, 110 (2d Cir. 2014), the “sufficiently serious questions, plus a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in favor of the moving party” approach is not actually a separate test at all, but rather a way of articulating one point on a

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single sliding scale that balances likelihood of success against hardship in determining whether a preliminary injunction should issue. See 11A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2948.3 (3d ed.) (Westlaw) (database updated August 2019) (hereinafter “Wright & Miller”) (referring to the Second Circuit’s “serious questions” formulation as “[p]robably the most often-quoted statement” of the sliding scale principle). Likelihood of success, while of “particular importance” in this inquiry, is not determinative, but must be considered and balanced with the relative hardship each side is likely to face from the determination whether an injunction issues, with the so-called “serious questions” standard emerging as simply one point on the sliding scale at which an injunction may be warranted.25 Id. This flexible approach is particularly well-suited to the preliminary injunction context, where courts act pursuant to equitable principles.26 See, e.g., *694 Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 649–50, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010) (“In emphasizing the need for flexibility ... we have followed a tradition in which courts of equity have sought to relieve hardships which, from time to time, arise from a hard and fast adherence to more absolute legal rules, which, if strictly applied, threaten the evils of archaic rigidity.” (internal quotation marks, alterations, and citations omitted)).
Against this backdrop, our so-called “exceptions” to the serious questions formulation are best understood not in prescriptive terms, but as the articulation of principles guiding the application of the sliding scale calculus in particular scenarios. As relevant here, the Plaza Health “exception” thus reflects a considered judgment, drawing on equitable ideas, that “[w]here the moving party seeks to stay government action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme,” the serious questions formulation should be generally unavailable precisely because the balance of hardships is so unlikely to tip decidedly in that party’s favor. Able v. United States, 44 F.3d 128, 131 (2d Cir. 1995) (quoting Plaza Health, 878 F.2d at 580). In issuing a preliminary injunction based on the conclusion that it does, a court impermissibly “substitute[s] its own determination of the public interest” for the one reflected in the statutory or regulatory scheme. Id. at 132.
Accordingly, where government action has been fairly characterized as taken pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme, we have generally applied the likelihood-of-success standard. See Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35 n.4 (articulating the exception as limited to situations in which “a moving party seeks to stay government action
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taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme”). And where movants have sought preliminarily to enjoin government action pursuant to a federal statutory or regulatory scheme, we have explained that in the context of such action, “developed through presumptively reasoned democratic processes” and resulting from “the full play of the democratic process involving both the legislative and executive branches,” it is difficult to envision any circumstance in which a movant could demonstrate that the balance of hardships tips decidedly in his favor. Able, 44 F.3d at 131.
The majority argues that the Plaza Health exception sweeps more broadly, relying for this proposition on cases involving action taken by state and local governments.27 See Maj. Op. at 637–38. While *695 certain of these cases did not analyze why the Plaza Health exception was applicable, and appear simply to have assumed that the government action in question was taken pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme, see, e.g., Cent. Rabbinical Cong., 763 F.3d at 192; Monserrate, 599 F.3d at 154, those that did engage with this analysis explicitly identified a statutory or regulatory scheme and accordingly concluded that the presumptive public interest weighed against the movant, see, e.g., NAACP, 70 F.3d at 223; see also, e.g., Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, 769 F.3d at 110 (determining that New York’s ban on certain loans was “a paradigmatic example of governmental action taken in the public interest, one that vindicated proven policies implemented through legislation or regulations” and therefore applying the likelihood-of-success standard (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).28
Where, by contrast, government action has not been taken pursuant to a specific statutory or regulatory scheme, the narrow Plaza Health exception has not been applied, precisely because the public interest has not been presumed to rest with a single party. This explains why this Court recently upheld the denial of a preliminary injunction sought by President Trump to restrain the enforcement of a grand jury subpoena issued by the New York County District Attorney without applying the Plaza Health exception in determining the applicable preliminary injunction standard. See Trump v. Vance, 941 F.3d 631, 639–40 (2d Cir. 2019). It explains our decision in Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. McNary, 969 F.2d 1326 (2d Cir. 1992), judgment vacated as moot by Sale v. Haitian Ctrs. Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 918, 113 S.Ct. 3028, 125 L.Ed.2d 716 (1993), in which we applied the serious questions standard to an injunction sought against the actions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

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only after rejecting the government’s argument that the action was taken “pursuant to Congress’[s] broad grant of authority in the [Immigration and Nationality Act],” and reasoning that “in litigation such as is presented herein, no party has an exclusive claim on the public interest,” id; see also, e.g., Patton v. Dole, 806 F.2d 24, 29–30 (2d Cir. 1986); Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. v. Dep’t of Navy, 836 F.2d 760, 763 (2d Cir. 1988); Mitchell v. Cuomo, 748 F.2d 804, 806–07 (2d Cir. 1984); cf. Carey v. Klutznick, 637 F.2d 834, 839 (2d Cir. 1980) (rejecting the Census Bureau’s argument that “the public interest [rests] solely with it”).
The government action at issue in the instant case plainly falls outside the current confines of the narrow Plaza Health exception. Here, far from a situation in which a movant seeks to enjoin action that is the product of “the full play of the democratic process,” Able, 44 F.3d at 131, these legislative subpoenas, with due respect, do not constitute governmental action pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme and do not reflect the presumptively public-interested actions of both the legislative and executive branches. Rather, each subpoena is the product of a sub-component of a single chamber of one branch of the federal government and, critically, implicates the interests of another branch.29
*696 The majority’s approach, which concludes that, because the Committees act pursuant to powers under the Constitution, such action should “[s]urely ... not” be evaluated under a “less rigorous standard” than that “applied to plaintiffs seeking to preliminary enjoin state and local units of government” in cases such as Central Rabbinical Congress and Monserrate, Maj. Op. at 639–40, is misguided for two reasons. First, by deeming the “serious questions” standard to be less rigorous, the majority ignores the fact that the ultimate burden is equivalent under both standards.30 More fundamentally, the majority errs by categorically extending the Plaza Health exception to a situation in which “no party has an exclusive claim on the public interest,” Time Warner Cable of N.Y.C. v. Bloomberg L.P., 118 F.3d 917, 923 (2d Cir. 1997) (quoting Haitian Centers, 969 F.2d at 1339), when the so-called “government action exception” is premised entirely on the assumption that the public interest weighs decidedly against the movant.
To be clear, preliminary injunctions constitute an extraordinary form of relief and should not issue lightly. See, e.g., Mazurek v. Armstrong, 520 U.S. 968, 972, 117 S.Ct. 1865, 138 L.Ed.2d 162 (1997) (quoting Wright & Miller § 2948). The majority’s expansion of our so-called
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“government action exception” into the delicate arena of congressional investigations, however, is unwise, precisely because this is a context in which flexible application of equitable principles is vital. Historically, federal courts have undertaken some of their most difficult assignments in the context of reviewing the actions of congressional committees. The Supreme Court has thus been required to take on the “arduous and delicate task” of “[a]ccommodat[ing] ... the congressional need for particular information with the individual and personal interest in privacy.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 198, 77 S.Ct. 1173. It has been called upon to address the “[g]rave constitutional questions” presented when “the power of Congress to investigate” appears to encroach on the limits on that power imposed by the Bill of Rights and, in particular, the First Amendment. Rumely, 345 U.S. at 44, 48, 73 S.Ct. 543. Disputes between congressional committees and Presidents arising from subpoenas, as here, also not uncommonly *697 require courts to “search for accommodation between the two branches”—a task for which this Circuit’s flexible approach to making the difficult judgment whether a preliminary injunction should issue is particularly well-suited. United States v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co (“AT&T II”), 567 F.2d 121, 131 (D.C. Cir. 1977).
In short, we should not deprive ourselves of our traditional approach in such a sensitive context. As we affirmed in Citigroup, “[r]equiring in every case a showing that ultimate success on the merits is more likely than not is ‘unacceptable as a general rule,’ ” and also “deprive[s] the remedy of much of its utility.” 598 F.3d at 35–36 (quoting Wright & Miller § 2948.3). Because this case is not squarely covered by Plaza Health or any other previously-articulated “exception,” I conclude we are bound to (and should) undertake our usual approach: namely, to consider the Plaintiffs’ showing as to the merits, balance of hardships (merged here with the public interest inquiry, see Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 435, 129 S.Ct. 1749, 173 L.Ed.2d 550 (2009)), and irreparable harm and determine whether an injunction is warranted under either the likelihood of success or serious questions standard. As set forth already, moreover, these subpoenas do, in fact, present serious questions implicating not only the investigative authority of these two House committees, but the separation of powers between Congress and the Presidency.
* * *
Having determined that Plaintiffs have raised serious questions as to the merits, in the usual case, the next step

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would be to assess the balance of hardships. But this leads to my final point of departure from the majority. The majority orders immediate compliance with these subpoenas save for a “few documents that should be excluded” pursuant to its call for a restricted culling of certain records assembled under specific subpoena categories. Maj. Op. at 668. In contrast, I would not remand for the limited culling ordered by the majority, but would instead remand in full, directing that the district court assist in the development of the record regarding the legislative purposes, pertinence, privacy, and separation-of-powers issues at stake in this case.
I would request the district court on remand promptly to implement a procedure by which the Plaintiffs identify on privacy or pertinency grounds specific portions of the material assembled in response to these subpoenas for nondisclosure. Like the majority, I would then provide counsel for the Committees with an opportunity to object, but I would also require counsel, provided with a general description of such material, to articulate clearly the legislative purpose that disclosure serves and to specify how the material sought is pertinent to that purpose. Even assuming, arguendo, that the Committees act pursuant to adequate authorization from the House as a whole, serious questions persist as to the ends the Committees are pursuing and whether these ends are adequate to justify the sought-after disclosures.31 A fuller record would permit a more informed calculus regarding balance of hardships and would further clarify the stakes as to the serious questions that the Plaintiffs have already raised. This full remand is superior to the *698 majority’s approach for at least three reasons.
First and most fundamentally, remand is necessary here because the present record does not permit a full assessment of either the serious questions raised by these novel subpoenas or the balance of hardships with regard to specific disclosures. The present record is wholly insufficient to support the conclusion that the voluminous material sought pursuant to these subpoenas should at this time be produced. Serious questions arising from the lack of historical precedent for these subpoenas, their questionable authorization, their legislative purposes, and the pertinence of particular disclosures remain. The record as to hardship, moreover, is sparse, and does not reflect either parties’ concerns as to the disclosure or nondisclosure of particular categories of information sought by these extraordinarily broad subpoenas. The majority disagrees on both counts, concluding that while the questions here may be “serious,” they are without merit, Maj. Op. at 673–74, and that even if the balance of
38

hardships tips in Plaintiffs’ favor, it does not do so “decidedly,” Maj. Op. at 674–75. For the reasons already expressed, however, I cannot join in this assessment.
Next (and notably), a broader remand is necessary here, even taking the majority on its own terms—even assuming (incorrectly) that the district court’s judgment could be substantially affirmed on the present record. This is because the majority’s remand is inadequate to address the privacy and pertinency concerns that the majority itself identifies and deems important. As to sensitive personal information and an unspecified category of “nonpertinent” material, the majority concludes that the Plaintiffs should be afforded an opportunity to object to disclosure on privacy and pertinency grounds. It notes that “[t]he Committees have advanced no reason why the legislative purposes they are pursuing require disclosure” of “payment for anyone’s medical expenses,” for instance, and the majority thus forbids it. Maj. Op. at 667. But by providing the Plaintiffs with an opportunity to object only as to limited, specific categories of information sought pursuant to these subpoenas, the majority creates the very potential for unwarranted disclosure of sensitive information that it purports to disallow. The majority thus orders compliance with, for instance, the Deutsche Bank subpoena’s demand for “any document related to any domestic or international transfer of funds in the amount of $10,000 or more,” including any “check,” J.A. at 38, providing no opportunity for Plaintiffs to object that the sought-after material is sensitive and related to no legislative purpose at all.
Perhaps there is no material responsive to this category that would trigger Rule 26(c)(1)’s protections against “embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden” in a routine civil case. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1). Perhaps such material does exist. We cannot know until the documents are assembled and objections are made. The privacy and pertinency concerns that the majority purports to address simply cannot be addressed in the abstract. And by declining a full remand to permit a record to be made, the majority affords less protection against the unwarranted disclosure of personal information regarding a sitting President and his family than would be afforded to any litigant in a civil case.
Finally, I also disagree with the majority’s implicit assessment that the Plaintiffs have demonstrated no stake in the privacy of their business-related information that merits further review. Indeed, to the extent that the majority does show a reasonable concern for the needless disclosure of *699 Plaintiffs’ private and nonpertinent

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information, this concern does not generally extend to private business information at all, even though such information may implicate the same issues of privacy and (non)pertinence. To be sure, the majority is correct that Congress must have the ability to investigate businesses (even closely-held ones) in aid of legislation. And such investigations, serving a public good, will sometimes cause competitive harm.32 But particularly in light of the very broad disclosure sought by these subpoenas (which, with regard to many transactions, could require the production of information from both this year and from decades ago), the majority has proffered no clear reason for denying the Plaintiffs an opportunity to object more generally to the disclosure of such material.
The majority argues that any hardship from business disclosures is offset in this case by the fact that Presidents already “expose for public scrutiny a considerable amount of personal financial information pursuant to the financial disclosure requirement of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C. app. §§ 101-111.” Maj. Op. at 674. But this is beside the point—or perhaps makes the point that the majority’s approach is problematic.
Public disclosures made pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act are required by law, pursuant to a statute that has run the gantlet of bicameralism and presentment. In making disclosures pursuant to this Act, a President complies with a statute that presumptively reflects a democratically enacted consensus regarding the financial disclosures that a Chief Executive should be required to make. These House subpoenas, by contrast, require “considerably more financial information,” as the majority concedes, but themselves raise substantial questions as to whether they are supported by “sufficient evidence of legislative authorization and purposes to enable meaningful judicial review.” Maj. Op. at 654–55, . And as Judge Katsas suggested in dissent from the denial of rehearing in banc in Mazars, the scope of required disclosure “is determined ... by the whim of Congress—the President’s constitutional rival for political power—or even, as in this case, by one committee of one House of Congress.” Mazars, 941 F.3d at 1181 (Katsas, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc). In such circumstances, and taking the majority’s analysis on its own terms, it is not clear why the majority limits its remand to the particular categories of information that it has selected, as opposed to permitting a more general opportunity to object regarding nonpertinent business information and the irreparable injury that will attend its disclosure.
39

For all the reasons that I have laid out here, this matter should be returned to the district court. The remand that I have outlined would clarify the issues at stake so that a reasoned determination could be made as to whether serious questions persist, and where the balance of hardships lies. Indeed, given the lack of historical precedent for these subpoenas; their extraordinary breadth; and the persistent *700 questions here regarding authorization, legislative purposes, and pertinence, a remand for development of the record with regard to specific categories of information is far preferable to the majority’s approach.
Such a procedure would also encourage negotiation between the parties and potentially narrow the scope of this dispute. Because I conclude, contrary to the majority, that this case implicates the Supreme Court’s caution to “tread warily” in matters pitting the power of Congress to investigate against other substantial constitutional concerns, Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543, and because the “serious questions” delineated above sound in separation of powers, see Pub. Citizen v. Dep’t of Justice, 491 U.S. 440, 466, 109 S.Ct. 2558, 105 L.Ed.2d 377 (1989) (noting that the Supreme Court’s “reluctance to decide constitutional issues is especially great where ... they concern the relative powers of coordinate branches of government”), this matter falls within a range of cases in which we should attempt, if possible, to “avoid a resolution that might disturb the balance of power between the two branches,” AT&T II, 567 F.2d at 123. Perhaps that is not possible here. But as the D.C. Circuit has recognized in the past, congressional committees and the Chief Executive “have a long history of settlement of disputes that seemed irreconcilable” and such resolutions, where possible, are to be preferred, since “[a] court decision selects a victor, and tends thereafter to tilt the scales.” AT&T I, 551 F.2d at 394; see also id. at 391 (noting possibility of “better balance ... in the constitutional sense” from “political struggle and compromise,” rather than court decision); Rumely, 345 U.S. at 45–46, 73 S.Ct. 543 (noting that a “[c]ourt’s duty to avoid a constitutional issue, if possible, applies not merely to legislation ... but also to congressional action by way of resolution”—indeed, most especially in this context).
Accordingly, I would withhold decision as to balance of hardships and remand to permit the district court and the parties the opportunity to provide this Court with an adequate record regarding the legislative purpose, pertinence, privacy and separation of powers issues in this case. Such a procedure, as in AT&T I, 551 F.2d at 394–95,

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

and AT&T II, 567 F.2d at 128–32, could narrow the scope

detriment of not only the President and his office but also

of the present dispute. But it is required in any event,

the Nation that the Presidency was designed to serve.”

because the record simply does not support the majority’s

Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 753, 102 S.Ct. 2690. Once the

decision to order immediate compliance with these

parties have provided this Court with the information that

subpoenas, but for a “few documents,” Maj. Op. at

I would seek on remand, we would at that point have a

667-68, falling within its preselected categories. To be

sufficient record on which to make a prompt and reasoned

clear, I reach this resolution guided by the Supreme

determination as to where the balance of hardships lies

Court’s admonition in Rumely that the outer reaches of

and whether the Plaintiffs, having raised serious questions

Congress’s investigative power are to be identified

on the merits, are entitled to preliminary relief.

reluctantly, and only after Congress “has demonstrated its

full awareness of what is at stake by unequivocally

authorizing an inquiry of dubious limits.” 345 U.S. at 46,

All Citations

73 S.Ct. 543. Serious questions persist with regard to these subpoenas—questions demanding close review lest

943 F.3d 627, 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

such novel subpoenas prove a threat to presidential

autonomy not only now but in the future, and “to the

Footnotes

1

The subpoenas issued by the Committee on Financial Services are not dated, but we were informed at oral

argument that they were issued on April 11.

2

They are Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing

Member LLC, Trump Acquisition LLC, and Trump Acquisition, Corp.

3

Trump v. Deutsche Bank, No. 19-cv-3826, 2019 WL 1934460 (S.D.N.Y. 2019), Dkt. No. 1 (Apr. 29, 2019).

4

Id., Dkt. No. 26 (May 3, 2019).

5

Id., Dkt. No. 31 (May 3, 2019).

6

Id., Dkt. No. 21 (May 1, 2019).

7

Id., Dkt. No. 38 (May 7, 2019).

8

Id., Dkt. No. 40 (May 7, 2019).

9

Id., Dkt. No. 59 (May 22, 2019).

10 Id., Dkt. No. 61 (May 25, 2019).

11 Id., Dkt. No. 62 (May 28, 2019).

12 Trump v. Deutsche Bank, No. 19-1540, 2019 WL 2320811 (2d Cir. 2019), Dkt. No. 5 (May 25, 2019).

13 Id., Dkt. No. 8 (May 31, 2019). In the parties’ joint motion to expedite the appeal, the Committees agreed that if the appeal were expedited, they would suspend compliance with the subpoenas during the pendency of the appeal “except to the extent the subpoenas call for the production of documents unrelated to any person or entity affiliated with Plaintiff-Appellants.” J. Mot. to Expedite at 2, id., Dkt. No. 5 (May 25, 2019). Granting the motion to
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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
expedite the appeal has therefore rendered moot the appeal from the District Court’s order to the extent that it denied a stay pending appeal.
14 Id., Dkt. Nos. 66 (July 11, 2019), 71 (July 12, 2019).
15 Id., Dkt. No. 81 (July 17, 2019).
16 Id., Dkt. No. 80 (July 17, 2019).
17 Id., Dkt. No. 143 (Aug. 19, 2019).
18 Id., Dkt. Nos. 148, 149 (Aug. 21, 2019).
19 The first component of the “serious-questions” standard has sometimes been phrased as requiring a party seeking a preliminary injunction to show “sufficiently serious questions going to the merits of its claims to make them fair ground for litigation.” Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians v. New York State Dep’t of Financial Services, 769 F.3d 105, 110 (2d Cir. 2014). That formulation raises the question whether the referent of “them” is “claims” or “serious questions.” Normally, the referent of a pronoun is the word or phrase immediately preceding it. That would mean that a plaintiff’s “claims” must be sufficiently serious to make them a fair ground for litigation. But the Otoe-Missouria Tribe formulation could also be read to mean that the “serious questions” must be sufficiently serious to make them a fair ground for litigation. The origin and evolution of the serious-questions standard indicate that what must be sufficiently serious to be a fair ground of litigation are the questions that the plaintiff’s claims raise, not the claims themselves (although the distinction probably makes little, if any, difference in practice). The first version of what has become the first component of the serious-questions standard appears in Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738 (2d Cir. 1953), where we referred to “questions going to the merits so serious, substantial, difficult and doubtful, as to make them a fair ground for litigation,” id. at 740 (emphasis added). This formulation was repeated verbatim later the same year in Unicon Management Corp. v. Koppers Co., 366 F.2d 199, 205 (2d Cir. 1966), and Dino DeLaurentiis Cinematografica, S.p.A. v. D-150, Inc., 366 F.2d 373, 376 (2d Cir. 1966). This formulation was substantially repeated three years later in Checker Motors Corp. v. Chrysler Corp., 405 F.2d 319 (2d Cir. 1969), but with omission of the word “doubtful,” id. at 323. Three years later, in Stark v. New York Stock Exchange, 466 F.2d 743 (2d Cir. 1972), we shortened the formulation to just “serious questions going to the merits.” Id. at 744. The following year, in Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., 476 F.2d 687 (2d Cir. 1973), we expanded that short version to “serious questions going to the merits which warrant further investigation for trial.” Id. at 692. Later that year, in Sonesta International Hotels Corp. v. Wellington Associates, 483 F.2d 247 (2d Cir. 1973), there first appeared the current version of the formulation, “sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation.” Id. at 250 (emphasis added). This formulation was repeated verbatim in a series of cases. See Triebwasser & Katz v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 535 F.2d 1356, 1358 (2d Cir. 1976); New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 550 F.2d 745, 750 (2d Cir. 1977); Selchow & Righter Co. v. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 580 F.2d 25, 27 (2d Cir. 1978); Caulfield v. Board of Education, 583 F.2d 605, 610 (2d Cir. 1978); Jackson Dairy, Inc. v. H.P. Hood & Sons, Inc., 596 F.2d 70, 72 (2d Cir. 1979); see also William H. Mulligan, Foreword—Preliminary Injunction in the Second Circuit, 43 Brook. L. Rev. 831 (primarily considering requirement of irreparable injury). Thereafter, this Court and district courts in this Circuit cited Jackson Dairy and its formulation of the serious-questions standard innumerable times, as the citing references collected by Westlaw indicate, until in Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc. v. Perales, 878 F.2d 577 (2d Cir. 1989), the formulation was rephrased to “sufficiently serious questions going to the merits of its claims to make them fair ground for litigation.” Id. at 580. Plaza Health Laboratories added the phrase “of its claims,” thereby creating the grammatical query considered in this footnote. Plaza Health Laboratories cited only Sperry International Trade, Inc. v. Government of Israel, 670 F.2d 8 (2d Cir. 1982), and Jackson Dairy, but both of those opinions had used the traditional formulation without the phrase “of its
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124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
claims.” See Sperry International Trade, 670 F. 2d at 10; Jackson Dairy, 596 F.2d at 71. A Westlaw search reveals that the Plaza Health Laboratories formulation has been used by this Court just fifteen times, and the Jackson Dairy formulation has been used 226 times. In view of the evolution of, and this Court’s clear preference for, the Jackson Dairy formulation, we will use it in this opinion, thereby avoiding the grammatical query posed by the Plaza Health Laboratories formulation. We will also use the article “a” before “fair ground for litigation,” which Plaza Health Laboratories and some of the opinions citing it omitted, but which is always included in the opinions using the Jackson Dairy formulation.
20 In their reply brief, Appellants contend that “the Committees conceded [in the District Court] that the serious-questions standard applies.” Reply Br. for Appellants at 2. They cite footnote 28 of the Committees’ memorandum in opposition to the motion for a preliminary injunction. We normally do not consider an issue raised for the first time in a reply brief. See McBride v. BIC Consumer Products Manufacturing Co., 583 F.3d 92, 96 (2d Cir. 2009). In any event, Appellants’ claim is without merit. The Committees’ footnote states, “To the extent there is any meaningful distinction between the Winter [v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008)] standard and the ‘serious questions’ formulation, that has also been used by the Second Circuit in post-Winter cases, see Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 36–38 (2d Cir. 2010), this Court need not consider that nuance here because Mr. Trump has failed to meet the heavy burden required under either standard.” Dist. Ct. Dkt. No. 51, at 10 n.28 (citation omitted) (May 10, 2019). Stating that the Lead Plaintiff had not met either the likelihood-of-success standard or the serious-questions standard is not a concession that the lesser standard applies. Moreover, in the sentence of text to which the footnote is appended, the Committees explicitly contend that the higher standard applies, stating that to obtain a preliminary injunction “a plaintiff ‘must establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits.’ ” Id. at 10 (quoting New York Progress & Protection PAC v. Walsh, 733 F.3d 483, 486 (2d Cir. 2013)).
21 Counsel for the Committees said to the District Court, “[J]ust because documents are turned over to Congress, that itself is not irreparable injury. The question is if Congress was going to disclose them. So just turning it over to Congress is not irreparable injury.” J. App’x 111.
22 One opinion of this Court noted that “[b]ecause the moving party must not only show that there are ‘serious questions’ going to the merits, but must additionally establish that ‘the balance of hardships tips decidedly’ in its favor, its overall burden is no lighter than the one it bears under the ‘likelihood of success’ standard.” Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., 598 F.3d 30, 35 (2d Cir. 2010) (citation omitted) (emphasis in original). Although that might have been the situation on the facts of that case, there can be no doubt, as we have repeatedly said, that the likelihood-of-success standard is more rigorous than the serious-questions standard. See, e.g., Central Rabbinical Congress of U.S. & Canada v. New York City Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 763 F.3d 183, 192 (2d Cir. 2014) (likelihood-of-success standard “more rigorous”); Red Earth LLC v. United States, 657 F.3d 138, 143 (2d Cir. 2011) (same); Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade v. City of New York, 615 F.3d 152, 156 (2d Cir. 2010) (same); County of Nassau v. Leavitt, 524 F.3d 408, 414 (2d Cir. 2008) (same).
23 Uncertainty as to use of the Winter formulation for all preliminary injunctions remained after the Supreme Court’s decision the next year in Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 129 S.Ct. 1749, 173 L.Ed.2d 550 (2009). In language similar to that used in Winter, the Court identified the four factors applicable to the grant of a stay pending appeal––“(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.” Id. at 434, 129 S.Ct. 1749 (quotation marks omitted). The Court then stated that “[t]here is substantial overlap between these [four factors] and the factors governing preliminary injunctions,” although the two are not “one and the same.” Id. In Winter, the first factor did not include the words “strong showing,” 555 U.S. at 20, 129 S.Ct. 365; the second
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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
factor used the word “likely” to modify “suffer irreparable harm, id.; the third factor was “the balance of equities tips in [the plaintiff’s] favor,” id.; and the fourth factor was that an injunction “is in the public interest,” id. Unlike Winter, which had set out four factors that an applicant for a preliminary injunction “must establish,” id., Nken said that the applicable legal principles “have been distilled into consideration of four factors.” 556 U.S. at 434, 129 S.Ct. 1749 (emphasis added).
24 RFPA defines “law enforcement inquiry” as “a lawful investigation or official proceeding inquiring into a violation of, or failure to comply with, any criminal or civil statute or any regulation, rule, or order issued pursuant thereto.” 12 U.S.C. § 3401(8).
25 Electronic Funds Transfer & Financial Privacy: Hearings on S. 2096, S. 2293, & S. 1460 Before the Subcomm. on Financial Institutions of the S. Comm. on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, 95th Cong. 397 (1978) (hereinafter “Hearings”). Hearings includes a draft bill, dated May 17, 1978, and referred to as “Title XI—Right to Financial Privacy,” which is identified by a note stating, “This Draft represents the combined views of the Departments of Justice and the Treasury, subject to further revision.” Hearings at 397 n.*. The definition section of that bill provides:
“ ‘[G]overnment authority’ means the Congress of the United States, or any agency or department of the United States or of a State or political subdivision, or any officer, employee or agent of any of the foregoing.”
Hearings at 397 (emphasis added) (explaining definitional provision, § 1101(3)). This provision not only explicitly made the bill applicable to Congress, but it also reflected the view of Justice and the Treasury that “agency or department of the United States” did not include Congress. Hearings also contains a section-by-section analysis of the Justice-Treasury draft bill submitted on May 17, 1978. See Hearings at 365 & n.*. That analysis includes the following explanation of the coverage of the draft bill:
“The ‘government authorities’ whose actions are restricted by the bill include any agency or department of the United States or any State or political subdivision, or any of their officers, employees, or agents. The Congress is also covered, since it may use financial records in its investigations to which the same privacy rights should adhere.” Hearings at 366 (emphasis added) (explaining definitional provision). As explained by then-Deputy Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti, “[O]ur proposal would extend these important procedures and privacy rights to cover investigations by the Legislative as well as the Executive Branch.” Hearings at 189, 194. Hearings also includes an analysis prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, comparing what is called “Draft Proposed by Justice Dept.” with S. 14 and S. 2096. Hearings at 161. That analysis points out that the scope of the Justice Department draft protects financial records from unauthorized access “by Congress, Federal or State agents and agencies,” whereas S. 14 and S. 2096 protect such records from unauthorized access “by Federal agents or agencies.” Id. The draft Justice-Treasury bill, along with its section-by-section analysis, are also in the record of a hearing held by a House of Representatives subcommittee the following week, where Civiletti gave similar testimony. See Right to Privacy Proposals of the Privacy Protection Study Commission: Hearings on H.R. 10076 Before the Subcomm. on Government Information & Individual Rights of the H. Comm. on Government Operations, 95th Cong. 256, 274 (1978).
26 Even if Congress had Bramblett in mind, that decision based its interpretation of “department” on the “development, scope and purpose of” the statute at issue in that case. 348 U.S. at 509, 75 S.Ct. 504. RFPA does not share any of the same historical development as section 1001, and because the Court’s decision was not based on
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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
the text of that section, there is no reason to think that Congress, when enacting RFPA, believed that Bramblett’s interpretation would extend to other uses of the word “department.”
27 I include the publisher in citations to decisions in the nominative reports because of slight variations among the versions of 19th century publishers. See Jon O. Newman, Citators Beware: Stylistic Variations in Different Publishers’ Versions of Early Supreme Court Opinions, 26 J. Sup. Ct. Hist. 1 (2001).
28 Each side makes opposing arguments based on section 3412(d) of RFPA, which provides: “Nothing in this chapter shall authorize the withholding of information by any officer or employee of a supervisory agency [defined at section 3401(7)] from a duly authorized committee or subcommittee of the Congress.” Appellants contend that “[i]f congressional subpoenas were never intended to come within the statute’s scope, there would be no reason to include this provision.” Br. for Appellants at 42. The Committees respond that this provision concerns transfers of documents pursuant to section 3412(a), that it makes clear that the requirements applicable when an agency or department obtains documents from a financial institution also apply to transfers to another agency or department, and that “Congress emphasized, however, that these transfer provisions—like RFPA’s other requirements—did not apply to Congress.” Br. for Committees at 53. Each side also makes opposing arguments based on section 3413(j) of RFPA, which provides: “This chapter shall not apply when financial records are sought by the Government Accountability Office [‘GAO’] pursuant to an authorized proceeding, investigation, examination or audit directed at a government authority.” Appellants contend that, because GAO is within the Legislative Branch, “if ... RFPA is limited to the [E]xecutive [B]ranch, then there was no need to provide any exemption for the GAO.” Br. for Appellants at 43. The Committees respond that this provision “differentiates GAO from ‘a government authority’ and thus supports the opposite conclusion: GAO may obtain financial records in its proceedings or investigations that are ‘directed at a government authority.’ ” Br. for Committees at 53 n.24 (emphasis in original). We deem none of these arguments persuasive, especially in light of the textual and legislative history support for our conclusion, explained above, that RFPA does not apply to Congress.
29 No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 156 (Aug. 26, 2019). On August 27, we entered an Order informing the Banks that if they filed an unredacted letter under seal, a redacted version of the letter served on the Committees should be served on Appellants and filed on the public docket. Id., Dkt. No. 157 (Aug. 27, 2019).
30 Id., Dkt. No. 161 (Aug. 27, 2019).
31 See Letter from Raphael A. Prober, counsel for Deutsche Bank, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 160 (Aug. 27, 2019).
32 See Letter from James A. Murphy, counsel for Capital One, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 165 (Aug. 27, 2019).
33 No. 19–1540, Dkt. Nos. 168 (Sept. 11, 2019), 181 (Sept. 18, 2019).
34 Id., Dkt. No. 180 (Sept. 18, 2019).
35 Id., Dkt. Nos. 184, 186, 188, 190 (Sept. 27, 2019).
36 Id., Dkt. No. 193 (Oct. 4, 2019).
37 See Letter from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 158 (Aug. 27, 2019).
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38 See Letter from Patrick Strawbridge, counsel for President Donald J. Trump, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 166 (Aug. 29, 2019).
39 The committees specified in paragraph (1) of section 6103(f) are the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. § 6103(f)(1). The Code defines “Secretary” as “the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate.” § 7701(a)(11)(B).
40 See Letter from Patrick Strawbridge, counsel for President Donald J. Trump, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals at 2, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 166 (Aug. 29, 2019).
41 The returns had been obtained by someone’s forgery of an application for them. See Hrubec v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 778 F. Supp. 1431, 1433 (N.D. Ill. 1991).
42 See Letter from Letter from Raphael A. Prober to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 161 (redacted version) (Aug. 27, 2019); id., Dkt. No. 165 (unredacted version filed under seal) (Aug. 27, 2019).
43 Courts have recognized an additional, though less clearly delineated, source of Congress’s investigative authority, namely, Congress’s “informing function.” The Supreme Court has explained that although Congress cannot “expose for the sake of exposure,” it has the power “to inquire into and publicize corruption, maladministration or inefficiency in agencies of the Government” in order to inform the public “concerning the workings of its government.” Watkins, 354 U.S. at 200 & n.33, 77 S.Ct. 1173; see Rumely, 345 U.S. at 43, 73 S.Ct. 543 (“ ‘It is the proper duty of a representative body to look diligently into every affair of government and to talk much about what it sees. ... The informing function of Congress should be preferred even to its legislative function.’ ”) (quoting Woodrow Wilson, Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics 303 (1913)). We need not consider this potential source of investigative authority because we conclude that the Committees issued the subpoenas to advance valid legislative purposes.
44 Kilbourn had been imprisoned by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives for contempt by refusing to respond to a House committee’s inquiries concerning matters that were then pending in a federal bankruptcy court. As the Supreme Court later explained in McGrain, the bankruptcy was a matter “in respect to which no valid legislation could be had” because the case was “still pending in the bankruptcy court” and “the United States and other creditors were free to press their claims in that proceeding.” 273 U.S. at 171, 47 S.Ct. 319.
45 Watkins cites, 354 U.S. at 200 n.34, 77 S.Ct. 1173, among other cases, Eisler v. United States, 170 F.2d 273 (D.C. Cir. 1948), in which the D.C. Circuit stated, “[D]efense counsel sought to introduce evidence to show that the Committee’s real purpose in summoning appellant was to harass and punish him for his political beliefs and that the Committee acted for ulterior motives not within the scope of its or Congress’ powers. The lower court properly refused to admit such evidence, on the ground that the court had no authority to scrutinize the motives of Congress or one of its committees.” Id. at 278–79 (quotation marks and ellipsis omitted). In Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U.S. 367, 71 S.Ct. 783, 95 L.Ed. 1019 (1951), the Supreme Court provided this caution to courts asked to consider legislators’ motives: “In times of political passion, dishonest or vindictive motives are readily attributed to legislative conduct and as readily believed. Courts are not the place for such controversies. Self-discipline and the voters must be the ultimate reliance for discouraging or correcting such abuses. The courts should not go beyond the narrow confines of determining that a committee’s inquiry may fairly be deemed within its province.” Id. at 378, 71 S.Ct. 783 (footnote omitted).
46 The subpoena challenged in Mazars seeks four categories of documents somewhat different from those sought by the subpoenas challenged on this appeal, and seeks the documents for purposes significantly different from the
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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
Committees’ purposes, as we point out infra. The categories are: various financial statements and reports compiled by Mazars USA, LLP, engagement agreements for preparation of such statements and reports, supporting documents used in the preparation of such statements and reports, and memoranda, notes, and communication related to the compilation and auditing of such statements and reports. See Decl. of William S. Consovoy, Ex. A at 3, Trump v. Committee on Oversight and Reform of the United States House of Representatives, 380 F. Supp. 3d 76 (D.D.C. 2019), ECF No. 9-2, aff’d, Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 940 F.3d 710 (D.C. Cir. 2019).
47 Appellants have not made that “clear statement” argument in their briefs in this case.
48 H.R. Res. 507 disclaims the need for its adoption, stating: “Whereas the validity of some of [the pending] investigations and subpoenas [relating to the President] has been incorrectly challenged in Federal court on the grounds that the investigations and subpoenas were not authorized by the full House and lacked a ‘clear statement’ of intent to include the President, which the President’s personal attorneys have argued in Federal court is necessary before the committees may seek information related to the President; and
“Whereas while these arguments are plainly incorrect as a matter of law, it is nevertheless in the interest of the institution of the House of Representatives to avoid any doubt on this matter and to unequivocally reject these challenges presented in ongoing or future litigation.”
H.R. Res. 507.
49 See Letter from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 106 (July 26, 2019).
50 See Letter from William S. Consovoy, counsel for President Donald J. Trump, to Mark Langer, Clerk of Court, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, No. 19–5142, Doc. No. 1799866 (D.C. Cir. July 31, 2019).
51 See Letter from Patrick Strawbridge, counsel for President Donald J. Trump, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 112 (Aug. 1, 2019). On August 6, the United States filed in the Mazars appeal an amicus curiae brief, making additional arguments concerning the alleged deficiency of Resolution 507. We need not set forth those arguments because on August 19 the United States filed an amicus curiae brief in the pending appeal, making additional arguments concerning Resolution 507 as it relates to the subpoenas in the pending litigation. We consider those arguments infra.
52 The D.C. Circuit explained that the relevant Senate resolution “imposes on the Subcommittee itself” the “function of calling witnesses,” and that “the whole function of determining who the witnesses would be was de facto delegated to the Subcommittee counsel.” Shelton, 327 F.2d at 606.
53 The report explains that under House Rule X, the Oversight Committee “is to review the various plans and, in consultation with the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, report to the House the oversight plans along with any recommendations that the House leadership and the Committee may have to ensure effective coordination. Pursuant to this rule, the Committee on Oversight and Reform has reviewed and consulted with House leadership about the oversight plans of the standing House committees for the 116th Congress.” H.R. Rep. No. 116-40 at 2.
54 Implementation of FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence Rule—Regulator Perspective: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on 46

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
Terrorism & Illicit Finance of the H. Comm. on Financial Services, 115th Cong. (2018); Examining the BSA/AML Regulatory Compliance Regime: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit of the H. Comm. on Financial Services, 115th Cong. (2017).
55 See Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, H.R. 2513, 116th Cong. (bill to reform corporate beneficial ownership disclosures and increase transparency); COUNTER Act of 2019, H.R. 2514, 116th Cong. (bill to strengthen the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering laws); Vladimir Putin Transparency Act, H.R. 1404, 116th Cong. (as passed by House, Mar. 12, 2019) (bill to require Executive Branch agencies to submit assessment to Congress regarding financial holdings of Russian President Vladimir Putin and top Kremlin-connected oligarchs).
56 https://intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=447.
57 David Enrich, Deutsche Bank and Trump: $2 Billion in Loans and a Wary Board, N.Y. Times, Mar. 18, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/business/deutsche-bank-donaldtrump/html.
58 Donald J. Trump, President, Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report for 2017 (Office of Government Ethics Form 278e) at 45 (May 15, 2018).
59 The Committees cite as examples the following bills: Duty to Report Act, H.R. 2424, 116th Cong. (2019) (bill to require campaign officials to notify law enforcement if offered assistance by foreign nationals and to report all meetings with foreign agents); KREMLIN Act, H.R. 1617, 116th Cong. (as passed by House, Mar. 12, 2019) (bill to require Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congress intelligence assessments of Russian intentions relating to North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Western allies); Strengthening Elections Through Intelligence Act, H.R. 1474, 116th Cong. (2019) (bill to require an intelligence threat assessment prior to every federal general election); For the People Act of 2019, H.R. 1, 116th Cong. (as passed by House, Mar. 8, 2019) (bill to improve election security and oversight and provide for national strategy and enforcement to combat foreign interference).
60 The Court had previously said in Quinn that the power to investigate “cannot be used to inquire into private affairs unrelated to a valid legislative purpose.” 349 U.S. at 161, 75 S.Ct. 668 (emphasis added).
61 After the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Mazars, Appellants and the Committees sent letters to this Court, reporting and commenting on that decision. See Letter from Patrick Strawbridge, counsel for President Donald J. Trump, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 202 (Oct. 14, 2019); Letter from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, to Clerk of Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19–1540, Dkt. No. 201 (Oct. 11, 2019). In view of the D.C. Circuit’s ruling affirming the denial of an injunction to prohibit compliance with the subpoena there challenged, Appellants’ letter stating that “the Mazars majority agreed that the subpoenas here are unconstitutional” presses the limits of advocacy. The Committees’ letter states, “This Court should join the D.C. Circuit in upholding the validity of the subpoenas at issue here.”
62 See footnote 46, p. 698–99.
63 As stated by Chairman Cummings:
“The Committee has full authority to investigate [1] whether the President may have engaged in illegal conduct before and during his tenure in office, [2] to determine whether he has undisclosed conflicts of interest that may impair his ability to make impartial policy decisions, [3] to assess whether he is complying with the Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution, and [4] to review whether he has accurately reported his finances to the Office of Government
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Ethics and other federal entities. The Committee’s interest in these matters informs its review of multiple laws and legislative proposals under our jurisdiction, and to suggest otherwise is both inaccurate and contrary to the core mission of the Committee to serve as an independent check on the Executive Branch.”

Memorandum from Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman, House Comm. on Oversight & Reform, to Members of the Comm. on Oversight & Reform 4 (Apr. 12, 2019).

64 We note that neither the principal nor the reply brief of Appellants mentions the word “impeachment.”

65 Judge Livingston reports that at oral argument the Committees “affirmed a willingness to negotiate on an expedited basis, if requested by this Court.” Part. Diss. Op. at 680–81. The colloquy to which Judge Livingston refers arose in response to a hypothetical inquiry from the Court as to whether certain sensitive documents such as a check for medical services should be excluded from disclosure. Counsel for the Committees responded that as to any documents “that have nothing to do with Mr. Trump and his family and these other businesses, his various businesses, have nothing to do with their real financial activities, we will direct Deutsche Bank not to produce those.” Oral Arg. Tr. at p. 41, ll. 11–15. When the Court inquired further about the Committees’ position if the Court were to insist on exclusion of such documents, counsel for the Committees responded, “[I]f this Court orders ‘these subpoenas are enforceable but’ –– and drew this exception, consistent with the hypothetical your Honor has raised, we would have no problem with that.” Id. at p. 41, ll. 22–25. Obviously, the Committees’ willingness to comply with an order from this Court concerning exclusion of sensitive documents like a check for payment of medical expenses does not affirm the Committees’ willingness to engage in negotiation. Later, the Committees said that “[i]f this court thinks there should be negotiation, ... make it really, really fast,” id at p. 46, ll. 8–10, and added, “Mr. Trump and the various other people have given no indication whatsoever that they actually would be willing to negotiate over — in any way that is serious.” Id. at p. 46, ll. 17–19. Again, there is no expression of a willingness to negotiate. In any event, the limited remand we order provides an opportunity for exemption from disclosure of more documents than even those we have labeled “sensitive.”

66 See Letter from Pat A. Cippolone, Counsel to the President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and three

House

committee

chairmen

(Oct.

8,

2019),

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/08/us/politics/white-house-letter-impeachment.html.

One

recipient of this letter, Congressman Adam Schiff, is the chairman of one of the committees that issued subpoenas

in this litigation.

67 In the District Court, the Committees stated, “Because of his prominence, much is already known about Mr. Trump, his family, and his business, and this public record establishes that they serve as a useful case study for the broader problems being examined by the Committee.” Opposition of Intervenors to Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction at 16, Dist. Ct. Dkt. No. 51 (May 10, 2019). Appellants repeatedly point to the phrase “case study” to argue that the Committees are not only focusing on the Lead Plaintiff but also doing so for law enforcement purposes. Br. for Appellants at 5, 11, 15, 31, 33, 50. However, as long as valid legislative purposes are duly authorized and being pursued by use of the challenged subpoenas, the fact that relevant information obtained also serves as a useful “case study” does not detract from the lawfulness of the subpoenas. Furthermore, congressional examination of whether regulatory agencies are properly monitoring a bank’s practices does not convert an inquiry into impermissible law enforcement, and neither committee has made any allegation that the Lead Plaintiff or any of the Appellants has violated the law. Moreover, when a borrower can obtain loans from only one bank, that bank has already lent the borrower $130 million, and that bank has been fined in connection with a $10 billion money laundering scheme, that situation is appropriate for a case study of such circumstances by a congressional committee authorized to monitor how well

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banking regulators are discharging their responsibilities and whether new legislation is needed.
68 Replying to this assertion by the Committees, the amicus brief of the United States says, “The bare fact that a ‘majority’ of other subpoenas may not be confined to the President’s information hardly suggests that the present subpoenas are part of a general inquiry into reforms of the financial system, in which the President and his family have been caught up merely by chance ....” Br. for Amicus United States at 21 (emphases in original). The Committees make no claim that the subpoenas seek financial records of the Lead Plaintiff, his family, and his business entities “by chance.” As we have recounted, the Committees have explicitly set out the circumstances that make the financial records of the Lead Plaintiff and affiliated persons and business entities appropriate subjects for legislative inquiry.
69 See, e.g., Mobile v. Bolden, 446 U.S. 55, 62, 100 S.Ct. 1490, 64 L.Ed.2d 47 (1980) (“Our decisions, moreover, have made clear that action by a State that is racially neutral on its face violates the Fifteenth Amendment only if motivated by a discriminatory purpose.”); see generally Andrew Verstein, The Jurisprudence of Mixed Motives, 127 Yale L.J. 1106 (2018).
70 The Complaint in this case alleges the following remarks of some members of Congress. Rep. Waters, Chair of the Financial Services Committee, said, “I have the gavel—and subpoena power—and I am not afraid to use it.” Complaint ¶ 37. Another member of Congress “stated that the new House majority would be ‘brutal’ for President Trump” and that “[w]e’re going to have to build an air traffic control tower to keep track of all the subpoenas flying from here to the White House.” Id. Others “were busy preparing a ‘subpoena cannon’ to fire at President Trump.” Id. Others, “according to news outlets that interviewed party leaders,” issued statements that “meant that they were going to spend the next two years launching a ‘fusillade’ of subpoenas in order to ‘drown Trump with investigations,’ ‘turn Trump’s life upside down,’ and ‘make Trump’s life a living hell.’ ” Id. ¶ 36.
71 To whatever extent Judge Ramos might be understood as treating the informing function as an additional source of Congress’s power, he did not rely on that source of authority, mentioning it only as part of a general overview of Congress’s powers.
72 In Hutchinson, the Supreme Court arguably contradicted this statement when it said, “[T]he transmittal of ... information by individual Members in order to inform the public [about their activities in Congress] is not a part of the legislative function or the deliberations that make up the legislative process.” 443 U.S. at 133, 99 S.Ct. 2675. However, the Court’s next sentence makes the limited context clear: “As a result, transmittal of such information by press releases and newsletters is not protected by the Speech or Debate Clause.” Id.
73 For example, paragraph 1(v) of the Deutsche Bank subpoenas calls for production of “any document related to monitoring for ... possible suspicious activity,” and paragraph 1(vii) calls for production of “any document related to any request for information issued or received by Deutsche Bank AG pursuant to Sections 314(a) or 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act,” provisions that concern money laundering.
74 See 28 U.S.C. § 2106 (appellate court “may remand the cause and ... require such further proceedings to be had as may be just under the circumstances.”).
75 Review may be initiated by a letter to the Clerk of this Court, referencing the existing docket number, without the need to file a notice of appeal.
76 Judge Livingston seeks to minimize the significance of Clinton v. Jones on several grounds. First, she attempts to refute our point that this case does not involve separation-of-powers concerns, Part. Diss. Op. at 682–83, but in doing so, she accords little significance to the major reason for that point: the Lead Plaintiff is suing in his individual,
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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

not his official, capacity. She then seeks to relegate Jones to near insignificance by referring to “longstanding interbranch practice,” id. at 683, again ignoring the fact that this litigation is not a conflict between branches of the Government. The fact that the United States filed only an amicus curiae brief, rather than intervene to assert the interests of the United States or those of the office of the President, underscores the absence of a true interbranch conflict. The point that compliance with the subpoenas will not have an impact on the Lead Plaintiff’s time sufficient to bar compliance arises from a comparison with Clinton v. Jones, in which the Supreme Court required a President to be available for a deposition and be subject to a civil trial. The so-called distraction of the Lead Plaintiff is of far less significance than what the Supreme Court permitted with respect to President Clinton. In sum, Judge Livingston offers no reason to think that compliance with the subpoenas will distract the Lead Plaintiff from the performance of official duties to a greater extent than the Supreme Court permitted in Clinton v. Jones.

77 The amicus brief asserts that the District Court “assumed that it had no authority to deal with the overbroad character of the congressional subpoenas here.” Br. for Amicus United States at 25 (citing J. App’x 138). We see no indication that the District Court made such an assumption, either at the cited reference to the District Court’s opinion or elsewhere in that opinion.

78 In Jones, the Supreme Court stated, “The fact that a federal court’s exercise of its traditional Article III jurisdiction may significantly burden the time and attention of the Chief Executive is not sufficient to establish a violation of the Constitution.” 520 U.S. at 703, 117 S.Ct. 1636. The same can be said as to Congress’s exercise of its traditional Article I jurisdiction. One court has discounted concern that compliance with document requests might distract the President in the performance of official duties by noting that “the President himself appears to have had little reluctance to pursue personal litigation despite the supposed distractions it imposes upon his office.” District of Columbia v. Trump, 344 F. Supp. 3d 828, 843 (D. Md. 2018) (collecting examples), rev’d on other grounds (lack of standing), In re Trump, 928 F.3d 360 (4th Cir. 2019).

1

None of these subpoenas issued in connection with an impeachment proceeding, in which Congress’s investigatory

powers are at their peak, but rather, as stated, “in aid of legislation.” See Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190,

26 L.Ed. 377 (1880) (noting that “[w]here the question of ... impeachment is before [the House or the Senate] acting

in its appropriate sphere on that subject, we see no reason to doubt the right to compel the attendance of

witnesses, and their answer to proper questions, in the same manner and by the use of the same means that courts

of justice can in like cases”); Senate Select Comm. on Presidential Campaign Activities v. Nixon, 498 F.2d 725, 732

(D.C. Cir. 1974) (citing to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution when noting that impeachment investigations in the

House have “an express constitutional source” which differentiates them from Congress’s general oversight or

legislative power).

2

The Plaintiff entities here are defined to include not only parents, subsidiaries, related joint ventures and the like,

but any “current or former employee, officer, director, shareholder, partner, member, consultant, senior manager,

manager, senior associate, staff employee, independent contractor, agent, attorney or other representative of any

of those entities,” so that the banking records of numerous individuals beyond the President’s immediate family are

potentially included in this dragnet. J.A. at 47, 58.

3

That said, “legislative judgments normally depend more on the predicted consequences of proposed legislative

actions and their political acceptability, than on precise reconstruction of past events,” which appears to be the

focus of the present subpoenas. Nixon, 498 F.2d at 732.

4

Given my determination herein that the Plaintiffs have made a showing of “serious questions” as to the merits and

that this case must be remanded, I need not now address whether the Plaintiffs have also satisfied the “likelihood of

success” standard—and I do not do so, given the obligation in this context to avoid unnecessary judicial

determinations on constitutional questions implicating Congress’s investigative powers. See Rumely, 345 U.S. at 46,

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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

73 S.Ct. 543. I note, however, that I do not concur in the majority’s determination that as to the present reach of these subpoenas, the Plaintiffs have shown no likelihood of success.

5

The Plaintiffs challenge the subpoenas as they relate to the banking records of President Donald J. Trump, his family,

and his businesses—the Plaintiffs here. Trump Br. at 1. To the extent the subpoenas seek other information related

to parties who are not Plaintiffs, the subpoenas have not been challenged and are not part of this appeal.

6

Before this Court, counsel for the Committees stated that “[i]f this court thinks there should be negotiation ...

[p]lease make it really, really fast, because we think that Mr. Trump’s statements make clear this is absolutely

insincere ... [b]ut fine, give us a day.” Tr. of Oral Arg. at 46:8-15. Counsel for the Plaintiffs specifically affirmed in

response that “I don’t think there is any basis to determine that we are being insincere, and I certainly welcome, I

think that we have made clear, sending this case back down for judicially refereed negotiations on whatever

timeline the court thinks is appropriate is absolutely something we are willing to participate in in good faith.” Tr. of

Oral Arg. at 66:21-67:2.

Referencing an October 8, 2019 letter from Pat A. Cippolone, Counsel to the President, to the Speaker of the House

of Representatives and three House committee chairs (a letter that is not part of the record before us), the majority

concludes that a remand for negotiation is futile because the President has prohibited certain members of the

Administration from appearing in connection with the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Maj. Op. at 661–62,662–63

n.66. With respect, however, this letter references only the “impeachment inquiry” and not the legislative

investigations at issue here. This letter thus provides no basis for this Court to disregard the express representations

of the Plaintiffs’ attorney that the Plaintiffs, including the President, seek to negotiate in good faith.

7

The majority suggests that these subpoenas do not implicate separation of powers because, inter alia, President

Trump is not suing in his official capacity. Maj. Op. at 661–62. I disagree. As in Rumely, “we would have to be that

‘blind’ Court ... that does not see what ‘(a)ll others can see and understand,’ ” not to recognize that these subpoenas

target the President in seeking personal and business financial records of not only the President himself, but his

three oldest children and members of their immediate family, plus the records of the Trump Organization and a

litany of organizations with which the President is affiliated. Rumely, 345 U.S. at 44, 73 S.Ct. 543 (quoting Bailey v.

Drexel Furniture Co., 259 U.S. 20, 37, 42 S.Ct. 449, 66 L.Ed. 817 (1922)); see also id. (acknowledging “wide concern,

both in and out of Congress, over some aspects of the exercise of the congressional power of investigation”); cf.

Dep’t of Commerce v. New York, ––– U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 2551, 2575, 204 L.Ed.2d 978 (2019) (noting that courts are

“’not required to exhibit a naiveté from which ordinary citizens are free’’’(quoting United States v. Stanchich, 550

F.2d 1294, 1300 (2d Cir. 1977) (Friendly, J.))). Indeed, the Committees themselves acknowledge that “President

Trump and the Trump Organization” are the focus of their investigations, see 165 Cong. Rec. H2698 (daily ed. Mar.

13, 2019) (statement of Rep. Waters), and that “given the closely held nature of the Trump Organization,”

investigation must “include [the President’s] close family members,” District Court Doc. No. 51 at 25–26. To be sure,

Presidents are not immune from legislative subpoenas. But as I explain below, this dragnet around the President

implicates separation-of-powers concerns for this and future Presidents, supporting a remand as to all the Plaintiffs

here. To the extent that certain of the requested records may ultimately be found not to implicate

separation-of-powers concerns, such a determination can only properly be made following a remand for

development of the record.

8

The majority also relies on the fact that President Trump seeks a preliminary injunction in his individual capacity, not

his official capacity, and that the United States has filed an amicus curiae brief rather than a motion to intervene in

asserting its view that this case presents “thorny constitutional questions involving separation of powers” and that

the district court’s order should be reversed. Brief of United States as Amicus Curiae at 27; see Maj. Op. at 670–71

n.76. In Jones itself, however, President Clinton proceeded in his individual capacity and the United States filed an

amicus brief addressing its separation-of-powers concerns. The Court nonetheless noted that “[t]he representations

made on behalf of the Executive Branch as to the potential impact” of a rule permitting private litigation to proceed

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Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795

against a sitting President “merit ... respectful and deliberate consideration,” 520 U.S. at 689–90, 117 S.Ct. 1636, and concluded, as already observed, that as to any civil action regarding personal conduct permitted to proceed, “the conduct of the entire proceeding, including the timing and scope of discovery,” should be informed by respect for the Office of Chief Executive, id. at 707, 117 S.Ct. 1636.

9

The high value placed on historical practice “is neither new nor controversial.” Noel Canning, 573 U.S. at 525, 134

S.Ct. 2550. James Madison observed that a “regular course of practice” could “liquidate & settle” constitutional

meaning in the face of “difficulties and differences of opinion” involved in the practice of government under the

Constitution. James Madison, Letter to Spencer Roane (Sept. 2, 1819), in 8 Writings of James Madison 450 (Gaillard

Hunt ed., 1908); see also Noel Canning, 573 U.S. at 525, 134 S.Ct. 2550 (collecting cases stating the relevance of past

practice to separation-of-powers issues).

10 President Andrew Johnson had his personal bank records examined as part of his impeachment, but those records appear to have been relevant because of personal loans made to him by the Treasury Department. See Stephen W. Stathis, Executive Cooperation: Presidential Recognition of the Investigative Authority of Congress and the Courts, 3 J.L. & Pol. 183, 219 (1986); see also Michael Les Benedict, The Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, 1867–68, in 1 Congress Investigates: A Critical and Documentary History 254, 264–68 (Roger A. Bruns et al. eds., rev. ed. 2011). President Clinton may have had some financial information, or at the very least some financial information of then–First Lady Hillary Clinton, examined by the Whitewater Special Committee, though it appears to have been turned over voluntarily. See S. Rep. No. 104-280, at 155–61 (1996). The House and Senate Banking Committees also appear to have subpoenaed witnesses to testify regarding Whitewater and the death of Vince Foster; however, they do not appear to have subpoenaed the President’s personal financial information. See Stephen Labaton, The Whitewater Affair: The Hearing; House Committee Told of Contacts Over Whitewater, N.Y. Times, July 27, 1994, at A1 (describing testimony); Raymond W. Smock, The Whitewater Investigation and Impeachment of President Bill Clinton, 1992–98, in 2 Congress Investigates: A Critical and Documentary History, supra, at 1041, 1044–45. President Nixon voluntarily disclosed several years of tax returns to a House Committee; that same Committee used statutory authority not at issue here to procure additional information from the IRS. See S. Rep. No. 93-768, at 1–3 (1974); Memorandum from Richard E. Neal, Chairman, to the Members of the H. Comm. on Ways and Means 3 (July 25, 2019), https://perma.cc/UYZ2-QTCU. Other investigations do not appear to have involved either subpoenas of the President’s personal financial information or subpoenas to third parties to obtain documents concerning the President in a personal capacity. See generally Stathis, supra.

11 Notably, the dearth of historical practice here may be partially attributable to the fact that “[t]he authority to issue a subpoena was once delegated from the full House to its committees very sparingly because the power appears long to have been deemed too serious a matter for general delegation.” Todd David Peterson, Contempt of Congress v. Executive Privilege, 14 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 77, 106 (2011) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). It appears that the House did not authorize standing committees to issue subpoenas until 1975. Id. at 107. Moreover (and more generally), it should also be noted that disputes between the two elected branches over congressional subpoenas have historically been resolved through a process of direct negotiation and accommodation between these two branches, undertaken outside the supervision of the federal courts. See, e.g., Comm. on Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives v. Miers, 558 F. Supp. 2d 53, 56–57 (D.D.C. 2008) (noting that “negotiation and accommodation ... most often leads to resolution of disputes between the political branches” and “strongly encourag[ing] the political branches to resume their discourse and negotiations in an effort to resolve their differences constructively”). The majority rejects this approach due to its view that this case does not involve separation of powers, Maj. Op at 660–63; however, given the expressed willingness of the parties to negotiate and my view that separation-of-powers concerns are present here, the traditional practice of further negotiation is a viable resolution.

12 This Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Vance, 941 F.3d 631 (2d. Cir. 2019), is not to the contrary. The Vance panel 52

Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, 943 F.3d 627 (2019) 124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
explicitly relied on the “long-settled” amenability of presidents to judicial process, and in particular to subpoenas issued as part of a criminal prosecution, to inform its holding that the state grand jury subpoena to a third-party custodian of the President’s tax returns at issue in that case was lawful. See id. at 640 (discussing the historical practice of ordering presidents to comply with grand jury subpoenas). Here, there is no such longstanding practice, and the subpoenas in question were not issued by a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation.
13 To be clear, while civil litigation against sitting presidents is unusual, presidents are routinely the subjects of congressional investigation while in office—as they must be, and for appropriate reasons. But there is no substantial historical precedent for the use of subpoena power to obtain a President’s personal information from a third party in aid of legislation. And as to such subpoenas, there is no analogue for the possibility of sanctions in the civil litigation context, which the Jones Court relied on as “provid[ing] a significant deterrent to litigation directed at the President in his unofficial capacity for purposes of political gain or harassment.” 520 U.S. at 708–09, 117 S.Ct. 1636. Nor do established rules of procedure provide a mechanism for narrowing congressional subpoenas so as to avoid “embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1). Historically, in those few instances in which investigators have sought a President’s personal documents, Congress has instead typically proceeded pursuant to the political checks inherent in the invocation of impeachment authority or the narrow authorization afforded to a special committee.
14 As noted at the outset, see supra page 678–79, the parties are unable to cite any Congress before this one in which a standing committee of the House of Representatives has issued a third-party subpoena for documents targeting a President’s personal information solely in aid of legislation. The practice appears to have begun with the committees of this House of Representatives, which has issued such subpoenas repeatedly, thus raising the separation-of-powers concerns discussed herein.
15 Judge Rao dissented, concluding that even assuming the Committee on Oversight and Reform had a legislative purpose, it had also asserted an intent to determine “whether the President broke the law,” an inquiry that “must be pursued through impeachment,” and not via Congress’s authority to investigate for legislative purposes. Mazars, 940 F.3d at 748 (Rao, J., dissenting). In the instant case, given the need for remand here, I need not now determine whether the House Committees have avowed such an intent, so I have no occasion to consider the arguments raised in Judge Rao’s thorough analysis. However, it is worth noting that nowhere in the Mazars majority or Judge Rao’s extensive discussion of historical practice, id. at 718–24 (majority opinion), 757–67 (Rao, J., dissenting), is there any hint of a prior occasion on which a standing or permanent select committee has used compulsory process to obtain documents targeting a President’s personal information from a third party justified solely on the basis of future legislation.
16 The Capital One subpoena, moreover, seeks the President’s personal and business financial records starting from the exact date on which he became the Republican nominee for President—an unusual date, to be sure, for specifying the precise moment at which his banking records became a useful point of inquiry into the possibility of tightening up the regulation of lending practices with potentially “broad effects on the national economy.” District Court Doc. No. 51 at 25.
17 The House Financial Services Committee asserts that the subpoenas’ objective can be derived in part from House Resolution 206, which affirms that the House “supports efforts to close loopholes that allow corruption, terrorism, and money laundering to infiltrate our country’s financial system.” H.R. Res. 206, 116th Cong. (2019). House Resolution 206, however, does not materially aid in defining more clearly the reasons for the Committee’s “case study” approach, as it does not call for a congressional investigation, much less one by a designated committee, nor does it reference the President and his family.
18 Thus, the majority references the fact that Deutsche Bank “has been fined in connection with a $10 billion money
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124 A.F.T.R.2d 2019-6795
laundering scheme.” Maj. Op. at 663 n.67. But the record is devoid of any claim, much less any evidence, that this fine had anything at all to do with the President, his children, his business organizations, or his business associates, all of whom will be irreparably harmed by the majority’s endorsement of the “case study” approach of the House Financial Services Committee.
19 Such subpoenas, moreover, will inevitably result, as here, in recourse to the courts, potentially embroiling them, as well, in political battles between committees of Congress and the President.
20 As the majority states, the Chair of the Intelligence Committee has publicly affirmed that the Committee is investigating matters related to interference by the Russian government in the U.S. political process and that the information sought from Deutsche Bank will inform legislative proposals to protect this process from foreign influence. Maj. Op. at 657–59. The House Intelligence Committee, moreover, has an oversight function to which its subpoena could conceivably relate. At the same time, however, no House resolution appears specifically to reference this investigation, at least as it relates to efforts to seek the President’s financial information, nor is such a legislative purpose easy to square with the extraordinary breadth of the Deutsche Bank subpoenas. The Chair, moreover, has also affirmed that the Committee’s investigation is in furtherance of Congress’s duty to “ensure that U.S. officials—including the President—are serving the national interest and, if not, are held accountable.” Press Release, Permanent Select Comm. on Intelligence, Chairman Schiff Statement on House Intelligence Committee Investigation (Feb. 6, 2019), bit.ly/2UMzwTE. The Plaintiffs argue that the subpoena is thus not in furtherance of legislative purposes, but represents an effort by the Committee to itself conduct intelligence and law enforcement activities. Trump Br. at 35–36. Indeed, at oral argument, the Committees’ lawyer appeared explicitly to equate these subpoenas to those issued in connection with federal criminal investigations. Tr. of Oral Arg. at 59:14–60:2. While I do not decide whether the Intelligence Committee has affirmatively avowed an improper purpose, the amorphous nature of the Committee’s legislative purpose would be clarified by my proposed remand, as would the connection between this purpose and the particular disclosures that are sought.
21 The majority’s support for this conclusion derives solely from cases discussing, in the contempt prosecution context, what evidence may be considered in evaluating whether a question posed to a witness before a congressional committee was pertinent to an investigation’s inquiry. See Watkins, 354 U.S. at 201–02, 77 S.Ct. 1173; Rumely, 345 U.S. at 48, 73 S.Ct. 543; Shelton v. United States, 327 F.2d 601, 607 (D.C. Cir. 1963); see also Maj. Op. at 654–56. This issue is distinct from the threshold question of whether a committee is adequately authorized, so that the majority must necessarily reason by analogy, and its conclusion is far from inevitable, particularly in the context of third-party subpoenas aimed at a President’s personal information, where the President must be able efficiently (and without undue distraction) to determine what, if any, steps she should take, either to assist the inquiry or, as here, to litigate. I need not address this question, however, because, even assuming that Resolution 507 is properly considered, a serious question remains as to whether it constitutes what the majority acknowledges is required: “sufficient evidence of legislative authorization and purposes to enable meaningful judicial review.” Maj. Op. at 654.
22 The Department of Justice argues that a clear statement rule should apply to the authorization of legislative subpoenas seeking a President’s personal information. Brief of United States as Amicus Curiae at 10. The majority dismisses this argument, noting that neither Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 112 S.Ct. 2767, 120 L.Ed.2d 636, nor Armstrong v. Bush, 924 F.2d 282 (D.C. Cir. 1991), on which the Department relies, concern congressional subpoenas, but statutes “claimed to limit presidential power.” Maj. Op. at 669. But Rumely makes clear that the duty of constitutional avoidance (implemented, in part, through mechanisms such as clear statement rules) “is even more applicable” in the context of congressional investigations than in the interpretation of statutes. 345 U.S. at 46, 73 S.Ct. 543. It also affirms that “[w]henever constitutional limits upon the investigative power of Congress have to be drawn ... , it ought only to be done after Congress has demonstrated its full awareness of what is at stake by unequivocally authorizing an inquiry of dubious limits.” Id. In short, while I need not at this time reach the question, the Department’s clear statement argument merits serious consideration, as does its assertion that the House’s
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“blank-check” approach to use of compulsory process directed at the President, his family, and his businesses runs afoul of Watkins’s caution that “[a] measure of added care on the part of the House and the Senate in authorizing the use of compulsory process” would help “prevent the separation of power from responsibility.” 354 U.S. at 215, 77 S.Ct. 1173.
23 The majority also argues that any serious questions presented here “are properly rejected at this stage of the litigation” because they “involve solely issues of law.” Maj. Op. at 674. I disagree. As an initial matter, our case law has recognized that, in appropriate circumstances, purely legal issues can present sufficiently serious questions to warrant a preliminary injunction. See, e.g., Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. McNary, 969 F.2d 1326, 1339–40 (2d Cir. 1992) (finding sufficiently serious questions going to the merits based on the novel questions of law presented by plaintiffs’ claims), judgment vacated as moot by Sale v. Haitian Ctrs. Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 918, 113 S.Ct. 3028, 125 L.Ed.2d 716 (1993); see also, e.g., 11A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2948.3 (3d ed.) (Westlaw) (database updated August 2019) (referring to “the existence of a factual conflict, or of difficult questions of law,” as components of the merits showing in the preliminary injunction context (emphasis added)). Moreover, the majority itself is remanding for some development of the factual record. As set forth herein, I conclude that the majority’s limited remand is inadequate, and that the record needs further factual development before the legal issues here can be adequately assessed.
24 Citigroup carefully assessed Winter’s import and concluded that our traditional approach is wholly consistent with that precedent and is properly retained, given “[t]he value of this circuit’s approach to assessing the merits of a claim at the preliminary injunction stage,” which “lies in its flexibility in the face of varying factual scenarios and the greater uncertainties inherent at the outset of particularly complex litigation.” Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35. Moreover, Citigroup made clear that, under either the “serious questions” or the “likelihood of success” formulation, courts in this Circuit consider all four elements articulated by the Supreme Court in Winter. See id. at 34, 38 (citing Winter, 555 U.S. at 20, 129 S.Ct. 365).
25 As Judge Frank articulated decades ago, when “the balance of hardships tips decidedly toward plaintiff,” it should “ordinarily be enough that the plaintiff has raised questions going to the merits so serious, substantial, difficult and doubtful, as to make them a fair ground for litigation and thus for more deliberate investigation.” Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738, 740 (2d Cir. 1953).
26 Indeed, confining preliminary injunctions to circumstances in which a plaintiff has shown there is no difficult question of law that could ultimately go against him would “deprive the remedy of much of its utility.” Wright & Miller § 2948.3; see also Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35 (noting that “[p]reliminary injunctions should not be mechanically confined to cases that are simple or easy,” as happens when the likelihood-of-success standard is formulaically employed).
27 See, e.g., Cent. Rabbinical Cong. of U.S. & Canada v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 763 F.3d 183, 192 (2d Cir. 2014) (likelihood-of-success standard applied to preliminary injunction sought by religious organizations against a city ordinance based on the court’s conclusion, without further analysis, that the ordinance constituted “government action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme” (citation omitted)); Monserrate v. N.Y. State Senate, 599 F.3d 148, 154 (2d Cir. 2010) (same, as to a preliminary injunction seeking to unwind the expulsion of a state senator); NAACP v. Town of East Haven, 70 F.3d 219, 223 (2d Cir. 1995) (likelihood-of-success standard applied to a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin a town from hiring police officers or firefighters, based on the court’s conclusion that the town acted “in the public interest” and “pursuant to established municipal regulations and state civil service laws”); N.Y. Urban League, Inc. v. State of New York, 71 F.3d 1031, 1036 n.7 (2d Cir. 1995) (applying likelihood-of-success standard to a preliminary injunction seeking to bar transit authority from implementing a proposed fare increase on the basis that the action in question “was to be implemented in accordance with the special powers” of the transit authority board as set forth in a state statute);
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see also Molloy v. Metro. Transp. Auth., 94 F.3d 808, 811 (2d Cir. 1996) (relying on New York Urban League in applying the likelihood-of-success standard to a preliminary injunction sought against transit authority’s implementation of a staff reduction plan).
28 Such cases may also exhibit an especial hesitancy on the part of federal courts to substitute their own view of the public interest for that reached by local and state governments in light of principles of comity and federalism.
29 Indeed, precisely because subpoenas of this sort implicate separation of powers so that neither Congress nor the Plaintiffs can be taken to represent the public interest with regard to their enforcement, the D.C. Circuit in Mazars declined to determine, in an analogous context, what deference it owed to the congressional subpoena reviewed in that case. Mazars, 940 F.3d at 726.
30 As is the nature of a sliding scale, the variables move in tandem and the Plaintiffs’ ultimate burden is equivalent either way. The majority perceives tension between this Court’s observation in Citigroup that the “overall burden” of the serious questions standard is “no lighter than the one it bears under the ‘likelihood of success’ standard,” Citigroup, 598 F.3d at 35, and language in our other opinions that refers to the likelihood-of-success standard as “more rigorous,” see, e.g., Cent. Rabbinical Cong., 763 F.3d at 192. See Maj. Op. at 637–38 n.22. I disagree. Because one standard requires a more demanding showing as to the merits and a correspondingly less demanding showing as to hardship, while the other standard requires the reverse, the overall burdens are clearly equivalent. Deeming the likelihood-of-success standard to be “more rigorous” refers only to its increased rigor as to the required merits showing. It was for this reason, among others, that we concluded in Citigroup that the Supreme Court’s decision in Winter revealed “no command ... that would foreclose the application of our established ‘serious questions’ standard as a means of assessing a movant’s likelihood of success on the merits” against the other components required to obtain preliminary relief. 598 F.3d at 38.
31 As to the “case study” rationale proffered by the House Financial Services Committee, for instance, if that Committee is unable more clearly to articulate the pertinence of its subpoenas to the legislative purposes it pursues, see Watkins, 354 U.S. at 214–15, 77 S.Ct. 1173, the balance of hardships may well lie with the Plaintiffs, who will suffer irreparable harm from the disclosure of their private and business affairs.
32 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G) permits a district court to issue protective orders to prevent public disclosure of “confidential ... commercial information,” a protection not afforded or offered to the Plaintiffs by the Committees here. The majority does not include these competitive harms as “irreparable injuries” in its analysis, restricting its focus only to “loss of privacy.” See Maj. Op. at 674–75–. The irreversible nature of the competitive harm risked by immediate and unconditional disclosure, and the lack of safeguards common to typical discovery procedures in civil litigation, further buttress my view that these subpoenas, as drafted, raise serious questions which a remand would aid in resolving.
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 CaCsaes1e:19-c1v5-4003,8D26o-cEuRmenDto2c8u4m, e1n2t/1741/20F2il0e,d21929/31341/250, PPagaeg1e o1f o3f 3

1:19-cv-03826-ER

United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE
SECOND CIRCUIT

At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 14th day of December, two thousand twenty.

Present: Debra Ann Livingston, Chief Judge, Jon O. Newman, Peter W. Hall, Circuit Judges.
____________________________________________________

12/14/2020

DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP, JR., ERIC TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION LLC, TRUMP ACQUISITION, CORP.,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION,

ORDER No. 19-1540-cv

Defendants-Appellees,

COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Intervenor Defendants-Appellees.

_____________________________________________________

CERTIFIED COPY ISSUED ON 12/14/2020

CaCsaes1e:19-c1v5-4003,8D26o-cEuRmenDto2c8u4m, e1n2t/1741/20F2il0e,d21929/31341/250, PPagaeg2e o2f o3f 3
PER CURIAM:
The judgment of the Supreme Court in the captioned case having been received on August 10, 2020, and the parties having submitted their views as to the appropriate disposition of the appeal, it is hereby ORDERED that the case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings in compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision. See Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019 (2020).
Jon O. Newman, Circuit Judge, concurring:
This case, before us on remand from the Supreme Court, Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019 (2020), concerns a constitutional challenge to identical subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank AG (“Deutsche Bank”) by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (“HPSCI”) and the House Committee on Financial Services (“HCFS”) (collectively “Committees”).1 The subpoenas seek a number of documents that contain or reveal non-official information of the President.
I concur in the Court’s decision to remand this case to the District Court to determine whether the subpoenas comply with the standards announced by the Supreme Court in Mazars, see id. at 2035–36, that apply to compelled disclosure of what the Supreme Court called the “President’s personal information” (“PPI”), id. at 2035. However, because the ultimate issue of validity arises in a context that the Supreme Court stated it had never previously considered—“a congressional subpoena for the President’s information,” id. at 2026—I deem it appropriate to identify some preliminary issues that the District Court might find it useful to consider. Before identifying those issues, I note that the Committees have narrowed the scope of their subpoenas to Deutsche Bank. See Letter from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, to Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court (Aug. 26, 2020) (“Aug. 26 Letter”).
One preliminary issue likely to arise in the District Court is which documents responsive to the narrowed subpoenas contain or reveal PPI and which, if any, do not. Related to that issue is likely to be whether any reason exists for not ordering prompt compliance with the subpoenas to the extent that they require production of documents that do not contain or reveal PPI (“PPI documents”), i.e., documents, in whole or in part, not subject to Mazers.
1 A separate subpoena issued by HCFS to Capital One Financial Corporation has been withdrawn and is no longer part of this case.
This case was consolidated in the Supreme Court with a case challenging different subpoenas issued by the Committees to the accounting firm Mazars USA, LLP. See Trump v. Mazars USA, No. 19-715 (U.S. Dec. 13, 2019). That consolidation does not affect the individual status of this case in this Court and the District Court after the Supreme Court’s remand.
This case is also distinct from another case brought by the President to prevent enforcement of a New York County grand jury subpoena seeking the same information sought by the Committees’ subpoenas. See Trump v. Vance, 395 F. Supp. 3d 283 (S.D.N.Y. 2019), aff’d in part, vacated in part, and remanded, 941 F.3d 631 (2d Cir. 2019), aff’d and remanded, 140 S. Ct. 2412 (2020), on remand from Supreme Court, No. 19 Civ. 8694 (VM), 2020 WL 4861980 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2020), aff’d, 977 F.3d 198 (2d Cir. Oct. 7, 2020), application for stay filed, No. 20-20A63 (U.S. Oct. 13, 2020).

CaCsaes1e:19-c1v5-4003,8D26o-cEuRmenDto2c8u4m, e1n2t/1741/20F2il0e,d21929/31341/250, PPagaeg3e o3f o3f 3
Also related to the preliminary issue of identifying PPI documents is likely to be the procedural issue of how the interests of the contending sides are to be protected in the identification of PPI documents. Once Deutsche Bank makes an initial determination of which documents are responsive to the modified subpoenas, it is likely that the Plaintiffs will contend that the Bank has included for disclosure too many documents and the Committees will contend that the Bank has identified for disclosure too few documents. Perhaps their contentions can be made to the District Court by reference to particular subparagaphs of the subpoenas.
However, if resolution of the likely contending claims requires viewing particular documents, a likely issue will be how to maintain appropriate secrecy lest the very act of making claims impairs interests of the President entitled to protection. A similar issue sometimes arises in commercial litigation in which discovery is sought for documents that contain sensitive information such as revenue, profits, and trade secrets, and now in the digital era, computer code. The issue often arises in patent litigation, a field in which several courts have developed useful solutions. See Peter S. Menell. et al., Patent Case Management Judicial Guide, appx. 2.4, at 2-123 to 2-170 (collecting local court rules) (3d ed. 2016). Notable among such solutions are multi-tiered protective orders permitting inspection of some documents by adversary parties under confidentiality agreements, other more sensitive documents only by adversary counsel, and extremely sensitive documents only by a neutral third party. The District Court might find it useful to consider using some of these protective devices.
Another issue likely to arise on remand is the precise scope of the narrowed subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank. The Committees have indicated in the Aug. 26 Letter the steps they have taken to narrow the subpoenas. Further indication of the steps taken to narrow the HPSCI subpoena is set forth in an Aug. 25, 2020, Memorandum prepared by HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff for HPSCI members, which is an addendum to the Aug. 26 letter. Both the Aug. 26 letter and Chairman Schiff’s Memorandum use descriptive terms to identify the categories of documents now sought. If disputes arise as to which documents are now sought by the narrowed subpoenas, the District Court might consider requiring the Committees to identify the precise scope of each subparagraph of the subpoenas as narrowed.
In considering how to resolve the issues identified as likely to arise, the District Court can be expected to invite the parties’ views on these and any other relevant issues.
Nothing in this concurring opinion should be understood as imposing any requirements on the District Court. My hope is that the identification of issues likely to arise on remand might be helpful to Judge Ramos.
FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court