December 6, 2017

Trump's personal banking information handed over to Robert Mueller

Is the net closing? How important is this latest news? I guess only time will tell. From The Guardian:

Donald Trump’s banking information has formally been turned over to Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating whether the president’s campaign conspired with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential election.

Deutsche Bank, the German bank that serves as Trump’s biggest lender, was forced to submit documents about its client relationship with the president and some of his family members, who are also Deutsche clients, after Mueller issued the bank with a subpoena for information, according to media reports. The news was first reported by Handelsblatt, the German newspaper.

The revelation makes it clear that Mueller and his team are investigating the president’s finances. Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner, is also a client.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment, but told Bloomberg in a statement that it always cooperated with investigating authorities.

Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, denied the report, telling Reuters: “No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources.”

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Sekulow’s statement. But Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, which is investigating the Trump campaign, said Mueller’s reported subpoena of Deutsche Bank “would be a very significant development”.

“If Russia laundered money through the Trump Organization, it would be far more compromising than any salacious video and could be used as leverage against Donald Trump and his associates and family,” Schiff said in a statement. He was referring to a private investigator’s unsubstantiated allegation that the Kremlin had video proof of the president’s involvement in a salacious sex act.

Schiff also noted that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, has stated in the past that the Trump Organization received substantial funding from Russia and that there have been “credible allegations” that Russians have used the company to buy Trump properties for the purpose of money laundering.

You've always got to follow the money.

I wonder what money changed hands over the latest tax bill...