President Donald Trump, fighting to keep details of his finances secret, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to prevent records held by Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp from being handed over to Democratic-led congressional panels, Reuters reported.
Trump’s lawyers asked the high court to put a hold on a December 3 ruling by the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directing the two banks to comply with April subpoenas by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and Intelligence Committee for the financial records.
If the justices grant that request, it would give Trump’s lawyers time to file a formal appeal of the lower court ruling.
“The subpoenas targeting the president, his family and his business dealings do not fall within the committees’ constitutional or statutory authority,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
They added that the President should not be prevented from contesting an “unprecedented demand for his personal papers” simply because the request was made to a third party.
The material sought by the committees include records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities.
Trump filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a separate case seeking to prevent the House Oversight Committee from obtaining financial records from Mazars LLP, Trump’s longtime accounting firm. An appeals court in Washington ruled against Trump in October.
The Supreme Court on November 25 granted Trump’s request to put the subpoena enforcement in that case on hold while the President appeals the matter. Both cases represent an important showdown over the powers of the presidency versus those of Congress.
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