Will lawsuits keep Congress from investigating future presidents?
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
MAY 7, 2019, AT 10:46 AM
... several House committees have issued subpoenas to banks with ties to Trump and an accounting firm that prepared several years of his financial statements, demanding a variety of documents. Trump has already declared that the White House won’t cooperate with any of the Democrats’ investigations, but he has little control over whether an external organization like a bank complies with a congressional subpoena. So he sued the banks, the accounting firm and House oversight committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. Trump is asking the courts to invalidate the subpoenas and arguing that they are an illegitimate exercise of Congress’s oversight power.
... legal experts told me that this appears to be the first time a sitting president has responded to a congressional inquiry by suing a member of Congress. They predicted that the cases will likely be difficult to win in court. Instead, they said, the lawsuits’ real power lies in politics and delay: They help Trump feed a political argument that House Democrats are unfairly persecuting him, while the subpoenas could be tied up in the courts for months or even years. And the ripple effects could be much bigger ...
Democrats are arguing that the contested subpoenas to Deutsche Bank, Capital One and Mazars USA, the accounting firm, fall squarely under their oversight powers. Congress can conduct investigations related to legislation and the functioning of the executive branch, and Democrats say they’re trying to learn whether Trump or his businesses are dependent on Russian money in a way that could influence his presidential decision-making. They’ve also said the banking subpoenas are part of a broader effort to determine whether the banks are helping Russian clients get money out of Russia. This wider investigation could theoretically trigger further congressional action if it reveals that the banks were involved in illicit money laundering.
But Trump is arguing that Democrats are seeking details of his private financial dealings merely to score political points and that the subpoenas to the banks violate privacy laws ...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/will-trumps-latest-lawsuits-keep-congress-from-investigating-future-presidents/
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