Trump asks Supreme Court to halt Deutsche Bank subpoenas

President Trump on Friday filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court to block subpoenas from House Democrats for his financial documents, the third case in which Trump has asked the justices to shield his records.

Trump’s latest request to the high court follows a federal appeals court decision on Tuesday that Deutsche Bank and Capital One must comply with House subpoenas seeking a broad range of financial documents related to President Trump and his businesses.

The House Financial Services and Intelligence committees’ subpoenas are part of a congressional probe into the president’s dealings with Deutsche Bank, which is reportedly being investigated for its role in a $200 billion money-laundering scheme involving Russia.

In their emergency filing on Friday, Trump’s personal lawyers said the president faced “an unprecedented demand for his personal papers,” and asked the justices to grant an emergency stay to allow time to formally appeal the lower court’s decision.

In a 2-1 ruling this week, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered “prompt compliance” with the subpoenas, citing a “clear and substantial” public interest in permitting the House-led committees to exercise their oversight authority.

But Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court today that if the justices take up their eventual appeal, they would likely overrule the lower court.

“The Committees’ desire to use the President, his family, and his businesses as a case study is not a ‘legitimate legislative purpose,’” they wrote.

The stay request could be a prelude to a potentially groundbreaking ruling on the extent of congressional oversight authority and presidential power.

The Deutsche Bank case is one of three fights over Trump’s financial records that now involve the Supreme Court. 

The justices are also weighing whether to take up Trump’s appeal in a separate lawsuit to prevent Manhattan prosecutors from obtaining eight years of his financial records and tax returns in a grand jury investigation.

Separately, the court is also considering whether to take up Trump’s appeal involving a financial records subpoena from the Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee.

–Updated at 3:23 p.m.

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