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As the Russia investigation moves into full swing, reports have surfaced that special prosecutor Robert Mueller has subpoenaed information from Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest lender, on their relationship to the Trump family. As the action has not yet been announced, Trump's lawyer John Dowd has rejected all notions of a subpoena even being issued claiming he has been assured of this from the bank and other sources.
While the bank claims to have always cooperated with investigating authorities from all countries, this information comes months after the bank rebuffed many Democrats' attempts to call for increased transparency over the $300 million Trump owed to the bank before becoming president. The bank previously rejected those demands, stating that the sharing of client data would be illegal unless it received a formal request to do so. Those loans being the focus of possible ties to Russia from before the election, Trump has unsurprisingly denied any wrongdoing.
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1. Do you think that the Deutsche Bank will submit the information that Mueller requires? Is it probable that he will find incriminating information to do with Russia in the records of Trump's financial dealings?
2. Do you feel that this is the only bank Mueller will begin to subpoena records from, or will this start a trend of looking into more of Trump's dealings before he was president, much less a candidate?
6 comments:
No, I do not think that the bank will give the information. I think that if the banks give the information up, people who use it will think that their own information is insecure. It is a matter of privacy for the sake of business. Given that bank isn't under a real threat or pressure to do so, I doubt they will give up the info. I don't think it is very probably that the info is going to be in the bank. Perhaps a chance, but it seems unlikely that his dealings would be somewhere so plain. I'm not if people with a lot of money and connections use multiple banks, but it would seem so from just what I hear. If that were the case, Mueller would definitely go to different banks to seek more information or just places in general to find hints.
To answer question 1, I do think the bank should and will cooperate with the Mueller investigation, because if it did not, they would be doing their reputation damage. And since they claim to cooperate with investigative authorities from all countries, denying the investigation access to records, would only bring about trouble. Additionally I think that it is certainly possible that incriminating evidence, given that wherever Trump's money seems to be, it is followed by murky waters and shady dealings and a lack of transparency. To answer Question 2, I think that the investigation will likely focus into that which he did during his campaign, rather than before it. Additionally I think that Mueller will definitely begin to subpoena records from, given that there seem to be numerous banks in which Trump has a notorious record.
I believe that if the subpoena is announced publicly, then the bank has to comply, so they will indeed submit the information that Mueller requested. I also believe that if the bank starts to cooperate with Mueller, then some ties to Russia could be discovered and we may approach another Watergate-like situation. However, this is assuming that Trump in fact did use this bank to get loans and make ties with Russians, and that the subpoena was issued and will be announced publicly. If these two criteria aren't met, I don't think Mueller can get further with this investigation. As for the second question, I feel like if Mueller receives the information he needs from this bank, then there will be no reason to keep calling other banks into the investigation with subpoenas. But if Mueller doesn't get the information he wants, then we could see a continuation of this. This may lead to more investigation on Trump's financial dealings Mueller keeps needing more information to complete his investigation.
I agree with Sahith and Pablo in that I think the bank will comply with the subpoena. While they would want to not share out client information, naturally, such a move by Mueller would force their hand. I highly doubt one will find super convincing incriminating evidence in the bank records even if Trump is guilty of colluding with Russia, though it is definitely a stepping stone. I would think that Mueller would end up getting records from other banks and financial institutions to get the information he needs in the investigation, so I am sure there is more to go.
As some of the commentators have stated before, now that the bank has received a "formal statement" from the FBI to release client information, they will comply with the subpoena and release the information pertaining to Trump. While I see the value in wanting to maintain the privacy and security of their clients, in this case, it is probably best for the bank to just release Trump's information so they can withdraw from the scrutiny and attention that they are currently receiving. Whether or not this information will allow Muller to get further in his investigation is to be seen. If the bank information does yield some incriminating information about Trump, then I think that Muller will decide to issue subpoenas to other banks. At that point, it almost becomes like a "connect-the-dots" puzzle, where Muller will have found the first dot, and then has to connect Trumps dealings to all of the other dots. If all goes to plan, at the end, we should be able to see the full picture and really know Trump's financial connections with the Russians. If the information from the Deutsche Bank is handed over and yields no incriminating evidence, then I am not sure where the investigation will go from there. It is possible that the could try getting information other banks, thus continuing the issuing of subpoenas.
I believe that since Robert Mueller issued an official request for the documents the Deutsche Bank AG will likely comply. Generally, they have a confidentiality agreement with their consumers, but due to the formal request and circumstances Additionally, to remain neutral in US national affairs the German bank should agree to all requests for transparency, in order to not seem as if they are hiding anything to benefit any party. I believe this release of information will definitely clarify many worries of the American public. If there is evidence of immoral deals with Russia then action can be taken against Trump, instead of just speculation.
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