The White House counsel to President Richard Nixon said President Donald Trump looks "extremely nervous" about the release of his tax returns after Deutsche Bank implied that it holds copies of the documents sought by Congress.
Deutsche Bank said in a filing at a New York federal appeals court that it holds tax returns relating to the subject of congressional subpoenas, but redacted the name, citing client confidentiality and contractual agreements. Trump has long had a relationship with Deutsche Bank.
"In addition, the Bank has such documents related to parties not named in the subpoenas but who may constitute 'immediate family' within the definition provided in the subpoenas," the filing stated, in what is widely interpreted to mean President Trump and his children.
"There could be a lot of trouble there for Mr. Trump," John Dean, who helped orchestrate the Watergate scandal and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice during the affair, told CNN on Tuesday night.
Dean speculated about what information could be contained within the tax returns, such as false and fraudulent financial statements about his wealth, that he has much less riches than he claims, or links to "unsavory people" who may have been collateral signatures on loans.
"We don't know. But there's something there that makes him extremely nervous," Dean said on CNN host Don Lemon's show.
"He, I think, knows enough that you don't really mess with those because you can get in serious trouble if you make substantial misrepresentations either on your financial statements or your tax returns. So that's a dangerous area."
President Trump's attorney, the Trump Organization, and the White House did not respond immediately to Newsweek's requests for comment.
Trump, his real estate business, and his family are the targets of multiple congressional investigations. Among those probing is the House Financial Services Committee, which subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for Trump's tax returns.
They are all suing Deutsche Bank to prevent the public release of financial documents. There is a similar battle with Mazars, the Trump family's accountant, which is also subject to congressional subpoenas and said it will comply.
The committee heard testimony from Trump's disgraced former fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen, currently serving out a prison sentence for fraud and lying to Congress, that his old boss deflated the value of his assets to reduce his tax bill.
Moreover, Cohen told the committee during his testimony in February that Trump also inflated the value of his assets to insurance companies. He said information that corroborated his testimony could be found on the president's tax returns.
Deutsche Bank's letter filed at the appeals court on Tuesday was in response to a request that it clarify whether or not it holds the tax returns of the individuals and entities named in the congressional subpoenas, of which President Trump is the central target.
Though admitting that it did indeed hold related tax returns, the bank justified its redactions by arguing that under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act "financial institutions are generally not permitted to disclose nonpublic personal information of their customers" without their consent.
The bank also said it "owes contractual obligations to its customers" over how it "may unilaterally disclose certain personal information," and that it risked civil liability with any "inappropriate" or "broader-than-necessary" disclosure.
Deutsche Bank added that the court's "established precedent" about filing sensitive material "supports the limited redaction sought here." An unredacted version of the letter was filed under seal to the court.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
