A federal judge in New York on Wednesday ruled Deutsche Bank and Capital One can comply with subpoena requests made by congressional Democrats to turn over President Trump’s financial and business records, despite objections from the Trump family.

Lawyers representing Trump, his family and his organization were asking for the subpoenas to be nullified and had sued the financial institutions to block them from handing over the documents, but U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said Congress has the authority to investigate.

"The power of Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process," Ramos, who was appointed during President Barack Obama's tenure, said. He added that while the requests are broad," they are also "clearly pertinent."

Lawyers for President Trump said it is a "safe bet" they would appeal.

A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank said the company would "abide by a court order" regarding the investigation.

House Democrats are looking to obtain more information about Trump’s financial affairs, potential dealings with Russia, and to look into possible connections to interference in U.S. elections.

A couple of congressional committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, and other financial institutions, last month as they sought to procure Trump’s financial records. Lawyers representing the president and his family claim that the requests violate the Trump’s privacy and serve no legislative purpose – arguments that were struck down on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the president was dealt a blow in a D.C. court, after a federal district judge ruled that his former accounting firm – Mazars – will be required to turn over his financial records and documents.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX BUSINESS APP

Democrats are also asking for Trump’s financial records from the IRS. The Treasury Department, under Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has so far failed to comply.

In a press conference in the Rose Garden earlier on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that it was not possible to work with Democrats on policy while these investigative issues lingered.

FOX Business reached out to Capital One for comment and will post an update if the company replies. </s> Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump attend the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C Groundbreaking Ceremony at Old Post Office on July 23, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Ramos, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that the Trump clan's arguments "are not sufficiently serious as it relates to Supreme Court precedent" dealing with the question of turning over documents to Congress.

Judge Edgardo Ramos' ruling came after a hearing at which lawyers for Trump, his three older children, Donald Jr ., Eric and Ivanka , and the Trump Organization argued that the subpoenas to the two banks should be quashed. An appeal of the decision is all but certain.

A federal judge in New York City on Wednesday said Deutsche Bank and Capital One can turn over financial documents related to President Donald Trump and his businesses in response to subpoenas from two Democrat-led House committees.

The judge also disagreed with the argument by the Trump legal team that the demands for the documents from House Financial Services and Intelligence committees lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. Ramos said there is such a purpose in the request by the panels, which are probing alleged foreign influence in U.S. elections.

The subpoenas, Ramos said, are "undeniably broad but are clearly pertinent."

The White House and a spokesman for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has said he is "fighting all the subpoenas" issued by House Democrats, who are conducting a broad inquiry into his financial affairs.

The ruling in the New York court came two days after another federal judge, in Washington, D.C., said Trump's accountants at the firm Mazars had to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for his financial records.

Deutsche Bank for years has been the main lender for Trump, whom other banks have avoided loaning money to because of his repeated bankruptcies. Capital One is in possession of financial records related to the Trump Organization's hotels. Neither bank had opposed the subpoenas.

In a statement to CNBC after the ruling, Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Kerrie McHugh said, "We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations."

The Trump family's lawyers, in a lawsuit filed against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in late April, challenged the demands for financial documents from the lenders, saying subpoenas from House Democrats "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."

Neither Deutsche Bank nor Capital One objected in court to the subpoenas. But House Democrats intervened in the lawsuit to argue against the Trump family's effort to quash the document demands.

Ramos' ruling came hours after the New York state Legislature passed two bills aimed at Trump, which would allow Trump's state tax returns to be turned over to Congress if they are requested. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he supports that idea, but has yet to say whether he will sign the bills.

The Treasury Department last week defied a subpoena from the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee for six years of federal tax returns of Trump and his business. But much of the information on those returns would be replicated in state tax returns.

During the court hearing Wednesday, Trump's lawyer, Patrick Strawbridge, argued that the subpoenas exceeded Congress' authority by being overbroad. He noted emphasizing that the committees were "literally looking for records about minors" related to Trump, as well as his in-laws.

At another point, Strawbridge argued that courts have made it "clear" that Congress "cannot cross the line into law enforcement activity."

Douglas Letter, an attorney for the committees seeking the documents, retorted that there is is "absolutely no merit to any of these arguments" made by Strawbridge.

"This is being totally misportrayed," Letter said.

Letter said that the subpoenas are broad, and asked for documents going back a number of years, because the committee are investigating things such as money laundering and engagement with foreign entities — "including Russian oligarchs" — over "a long period of time."

Ramos then asked why the committee was bothering to ask for "domestic documents" if that was the case.

"You have to look at: 'where's it going? ' " Letter responded, referring to money. "It's all tied together."

Letter criticized the Trump family's legal effort to thwart the subpoenas, saying that the lawsuit only had been filed "because of a massive and fundamental misunderstanding" of Congress' role "by Mr. Trump."

"He sees us as a nuisance," Letter said, referring to the president.

Asked by the judge if the financial records could be made public, Letter said that the committees did have that power.

But they "wouldn't do it willy-nilly," Letter insisted.

"We would of course listen" to the people whose records were subpoenaed, but ultimately "this is for the Congress" to decide, Letter said.

Lawyers for Deutsche Bank and Capitol One declined an opportunity to speak in court.

The judge said in his ruling that the attempt to block the subpoenas was "unlikely to succeed on the merits."

"The court concludes that a preliminary injunction" being proposed by Trump's lawyers "is inappropriate," Ramos said.

WATCH: The saga of Trump's taxes </s> A federal judge dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, ruling that two banks can hand over his financial documents in response to congressional subpoenas.

The Trump family and company sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One last month in an effort to block them from turning over financial documents sought by Congress. The House Intelligence and Financial Services committees had issued subpoenas to several banks as part of their investigations of alleged foreign influence on U.S. elections.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said he disagrees with the arguments from the Trump family attorneys that the subpoenas don't have a legitimate legislative purpose.

Ramos described the subpoenas as "undeniably broad" but "clearly pertinent."

Deutsche Bank has lent Trump's real estate company millions of dollars over the years. Capitol One is among the banks that houses Trump's personal accounts.

In a statement released after the ruling, Deutsche Bank said it won't fight the judge's order.

“We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations," the statement read.

Capital One did not immediately return a request for comment.

Trump wrote a $35,000 check to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen from his Capital One checking account. The money was tied to the effort to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had an affair with Trump before he took office.

Cohen submitted the check to Congress ahead of his testimony in March. </s> A federal judge dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, ruling that two banks can hand over his financial documents in response to congressional subpoenas.

The Trump family and company sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One last month in an effort to block them from handing over financial documents sought by Congress. The House Intelligence and Financial Services committees had issued subpoenas to several banks as part of their investigations of alleged foreign influence on U.S. elections.

In his ruling, Judge Edgardo Ramos said he disagrees with the arguments from the Trump family attorneys that the subpoenas don't have a legitimate legislative purpose.

Deutsche Bank has lent Trump's real estate company millions of dollars over the years. Capitol One is among the banks that houses Trump's personal accounts.

Trump wrote a $35,000 check to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen from his Capital One account with Capital One. The money was tied to the effort to pay off two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump before he took office. </s> A federal judge dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, ruling that two banks can hand over his financial documents in response to congressional subpoenas.

The Trump family and company sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One last month in an effort to block them from turning over financial documents sought by Congress. The House Intelligence and Financial Services committees had issued subpoenas to several banks as part of their investigations of alleged foreign influence on U.S. elections.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said he disagrees with the arguments from the Trump family attorneys that the subpoenas don’t have a legitimate legislative purpose.

Ramos described the subpoenas as “undeniably broad” but “clearly pertinent.”

Ramos issued his ruling after hearing arguments from lawyers representing the Trump and the Democratic-controlled congressional committees.

The Trump family lawyers signaled that they will appeal the ruling, but they did not comment after the hearing.

Deutsche Bank has lent Trump’s real estate company millions of dollars over the years. Capitol One is among the banks that houses Trump’s personal accounts.

In a statement released after the ruling, Deutsche Bank said it won’t fight the judge’s order.

“We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations,” the statement read.

Capital One did not immediately return a request for comment.

Trump wrote a $35,000 check to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen from his Capital One checking account in August 2017. The money was tied to the effort to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had an affair with Trump before he took office.

Cohen submitted the check to Congress ahead of his testimony in March.

In the lawsuit, Trump’s attorneys argued that the subpoenas were politically motivated and unwarranted.

“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,” said the suit, filed on behalf of Trump, his company and three eldest children — Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka. </s> NEW YORK — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request by President Trump to block congressional subpoenas for his banking records, dealing another blow to the president in his bid to block Democratic investigations into his personal finances.

The decision by District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos could clear the way for Deutsche Bank, the president’s biggest creditor, and Capital One to hand over years of financial records from Trump, his three eldest children and the president’s company to two House committees. Trump’s attorney told Ramos they were likely to appeal the decision.

This is the second court defeat for Trump this week in his fight to keep his finances secret. On Monday, a federal judge in Washington rejected Trump’s effort to block the House Oversight Committee’s demands for records from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA. Trump’s attorneys notified the judge on Tuesday that they have appealed “all aspects” of that ruling.

“Two in one week: Mazar Monday, Deutsche Bank today,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said.

“Another Day, another very important ruling,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said. Schiff is chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which issued a subpoena to Deutsche Bank.

Trump and congressional Democrats are locked in an escalating fight over the president’s financial records. The Treasury Department has also declined to turn over the president’s tax returns to a congressional committee despite a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that found it should.

Trump and his attorneys have called the subpoenas from the various House committees politically motivated attacks and presidential harassment. The House Intelligence and Financial Services committees are asking for a broad set of financial information that would violate the president’s privacy, Trump’s attorneys argued in federal court Wednesday.

“They are looking for [bank] records about minors, about in-laws,” said Trump attorney Patrick Strawbridge, claiming that even information about Trump’s grandchildren could be swept up in the subpoenas of Deutsche Bank and Capital One.

An attorney representing the House committees said the subpoenas were part of a larger investigation and that lawmakers were well within their rights to request the information. “This is not an investigation just about Trump and his family,” said attorney Douglas Neal Letter.

After hearing more than hour and a half of arguments, Ramos rejected Trump’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the banks from turning over any financial records. Trump and his family “are unlikely to succeed on merits of their claims," Ramos said, reading from a lengthy decision from the bench. “I will not enjoin enforcement of the subpoenas."

This bring House Democrats one step closer to getting access to a trove of financial information about Trump and his business.

Deutsche Bank has been a major lender to both the Trump Organization and Kushner Companies, which previously was run by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who now is a presidential adviser. Trump’s relationship with the bank goes back years, including a period when Trump had trouble paying back a loan for a Chicago tower. Trump sued the bank, saying it had played a role in a broader financial crisis that hurt the project. Trump and Deutsche Bank eventually settled the case and the bank continued to lend to him.

Kushner also has an extensive relationship with the German bank. Shortly before Election Day in 2016, Deutsche Bank finalized a $285 million loan to Kushner’s real estate company, The Washington Post has previously reported. At the time, the bank was negotiating settlements with federal and New York regulators.

Congressional Democrats have long said they want to examine the bank’s loans to the Trump and Kushner businesses, particularly to see if there is any connection to money-laundering in Russia.

In a statement, Deutsche Bank said: “We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations.”

Capital One did not return an email seeking comment.

Kranish and Sonmez reported from Washington. Reis Thebault and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. </s> Trump Files Notice of Appeal to Ruling on His Financial Records

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump and his businesses filed a notice Tuesday indicating they will appeal a ruling by a federal judge, who said U.S. lawmakers have the power to demand records from his accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the House Oversight and Reform Committee has authority to examine Trump’s personal and business records going back to 2011. The judge rejected Trump’s claim that Congress wasn’t entitled to the documents because they weren’t sought for a legitimate legislative purpose.

Read More: Democrats Closer to Seeing Trump Finance Records With Ruling

The Mazars case is Trump v. Committee on Oversight and Reform, 19-cv-1136, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Stroth in Chicago at sstroth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com </s> A federal judge ruled against President Donald Trump on Monday in a financial records dispute with Congress and said lawmakers should get the documents they have subpoenaed. Trump called it a "crazy" decision that his lawyers would appeal.The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta comes amid a widespread effort by the White House and Trump's attorneys to refuse to cooperate with congressional requests for information and records. Earlier Monday, Trump directed former White House counsel Don McGahn to defy a congressional subpoena that had compelled McGahn, a pivotal figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.In ruling that Trump cannot block the financial records subpoena, Mehta said the Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee had "valid legislative purposes" for its request and that it was not for him "to question whether the Committee's actions are truly motivated by political considerations." The committee has said the records will help it consider whether to strengthen ethics and disclosure laws, among other things, said Mehta, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama.Trump pointed to his Democratic predecessor when he told reporters before leaving the White House for a Monday night rally in Pennsylvania that "we think it's totally the wrong decision by, obviously, an Obama-appointed judge."To the committee chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the judge's decision was a "resounding victory for the rule of law and our constitutional system of checks and balances."Trump's lawyers, in cases from Washington and New York challenging the Democrats' demands, argued that congressional investigations are legitimate only if there is legislation that might result from them. "There is no possible legislation at the end of this tunnel," his legal team said.The White House made the same argument Friday when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would not comply with a congressional subpoena for six years of Trump's tax returns.In the New York case, Trump, his business and family want to prevent Deutsche Bank and Capital One from complying with House subpoenas for banking and financial records. A Wednesday court hearing is planned.In the Washington case, Trump and his business organization are trying to block the subpoena issued in April to Mazars USA, which has provided accounting services to Trump.Even before the ruling, legal scholars had said Trump's argument had little merit and that Congress has broad powers to investigate.Mehta said in his 41-page opinion that there are limits on Congress's authority to investigate, but those limits "do not substantially constrain Congress." He said that as long as "Congress investigates on a subject matter on which 'legislation could be had,'" it is following the Constitution.Mehta said that was true in this case, pointing to the committee's memo outlining four areas of investigation, each of which he said Congress could legislate on.The judge cited the Watergate investigation involving President Richard Nixon and the Whitewater investigation involving President Bill Clinton. He said Congress "plainly views itself as having sweeping authority to investigate illegal conduct of a President, before and after taking office.""This court is not prepared to roll back the tide of history," he said. </s> WASHINGTON, DC, USA (AP) — A federal judge in Washington ruled yesterday against President Donald Trump in a financial records dispute with Congress.

US District Judge Amit Mehta, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said Trump cannot block a House subpoena of financial records. He said the Democratic-led House committee seeking the information has said it believes the documents would help lawmakers consider strengthening ethics and disclosure laws, among other things.

The committee's reasons were “valid legislative purposes”, Mehta said, and it was not for him “to question whether the committee's actions are truly motivated by political considerations.”

The decision comes amid a widespread effort by the White House and the president's lawyers to refuse to cooperate with congressional requests for information and records.

In the case before Mehta, Trump and his business organisation sued to block the subpoena issued in April to Mazars USA, an accountant for the president and Trump Organisation. Trump's lawyers accused Democrats of harassing Trump and said the subpoena “has no legitimate legislative purpose”.

Trump's lawyers, in suing in both Washington and New York in attempt to beat back congressional subpoenas, said congressional investigations are legitimate only if there is legislation that might result from them.

In the New York case, Trump, his business and family have sued Deutsche Bank and Capital One to prevent the financial companies from complying with subpoenas from the House Financial Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee for banking and financial records. A Wednesday hearing is planned in that case.

Even before the ruling, scholars had said Trump's legal argument had little merit and that Congress has broad powers to investigate.
Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York rules Deutsche Bank and Capital One can release President Trump's financial records to Congress.