Press Releases

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a memorandum to Committee members in response to questions regarding the effect of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Mazars to the Committee’s ongoing investigation and subpoena to Deutsche Bank.  Schiff announced that the Committee will continue to seek President Trump’s financial records necessary to fulfill its oversight and legislative responsibilities, notwithstanding ongoing efforts of President Trump to block and delay Deutsche Bank’s compliance.

In February 2019, Schiff announced that the Committee would conduct an investigation of potential counterintelligence risks arising from President Trump’s extensive foreign financial ties, including any leverage that foreign actors may possess over the President and his associates as a result of such foreign entanglements.  As recently reiterated by several Senators in connection with the public release of Volume V of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s bipartisan Report on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, a full inquiry into the President’s foreign financial interests, and the U.S. government’s response to any counterintelligence risks arising from them, remains urgent and outstanding. 

In the memorandum to Committee Members, Chairman Schiff writes:

“This memorandum responds to Members’ questions regarding the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Committee’s investigation.  It discusses the application of the new four-factor test established by Trump v. Mazars to the Committee’s subpoena to Deutsche Bank.  Although not required by the Supreme Court’s opinion, the Committee will voluntarily narrow its subpoena to those records that are absolutely necessary to satisfy the Committee’s investigative needs and to fulfill the Committee’s legitimate oversight and legislative objectives.  Taking into account the evidence in the public record, this memorandum explains why the Committee’s subpoena, as amended, clearly satisfies the Court’s new legal test for evaluating Congress’s need for the President’s personal information.  It also discusses potential oversight and legislation that will be informed by the Committee’s investigation and by the subpoenaed Deutsche Bank records.”

 The full memorandum can be found here.

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