President Donald Trump, under escalating pressure from Democrats weighing his impeachment, suffered a stinging blow as a federal appeals court ordered two banks to provide Congress with his financial records.
The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. appeals court in New York, means Trump will lose control of his long-secret business and personal records at Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp. unless the full court reconsiders the decision or the U.S. Supreme Court blocks it.
The appellate panel, which ordered a one-week stay on its ruling pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, rejected arguments by Trump and the Justice Department that the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees had no legitimate reason to seek the information.
Trump, the Trump Organization and the president’s oldest children have steadfastly refused to surrender their records to Congress. Armed with the documents, Democratic lawmakers will be able to more fully explore any conflicts of interest in the executive branch and whether the president has violated the Constitution’s emoluments clauses.
“A court ruling against him, if upheld by the Supreme Court, would be a major turning point,” Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and critic of the president, said in an interview before the ruling. “There are some things in those returns that he doesn’t want coming out.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.