Deutsche Bank confirmed that it has tax returns requested by U.S. lawmakers seeking financial information for President Trump and his family. Whose returns are those? That's still a secret.
The disclosure was made in a letter filed Tuesday by the bank in response to a question from an appeals court last week. The panel is considering a request from Trump to block access to financial records at Deutsche Bank and Capital One that have been subpoenaed by House Democrats. In a separate letter, Capital One said it does not possess any tax returns responsive to the subpoena.
The appellate judges had asked if the banks actually had the tax returns being sought sought in the subpoenas. Deutsche Bank and Capital One declined to answer the question in open court, citing laws and customer privacy agreements, but agreed to file the information under seal.
Trump, his children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, and his businesses sued the banks in April to block them from complying with the demand from lawmakers to turn over the financial information. A federal judge in May rejected that request, and Trump has appealed.
In its filing Tuesday, Deutsche Bank said it has tax returns — in either draft or as-filed form — responsive to the subpoenas. The names were redacted. The bank also said it has "such documents related to parties not named in the subpoenas but who may constitute 'immediate family' within the definition provided by the subpoenas."
Deutsche Bank also said it does not believe it possesses tax returns responsive to the subpoenas for any individuals other than the people it identified. The bank said it is reluctant to publicly identify information related to tax returns for specific individuals because of "statutory, contractual and privacy concerns."
