Trump can't block banks from releasing his financial records, court rules

Donald Trump has lost an appeal to prevent Capital One and Deutsche Bank from sending his financial records to Congress, marking another legal blow to the president after several lawsuits and court rulings have sought records of his finances.

A 106-page ruling from a three-judge panel at the US District Court of Appeals says the banks must hand over several years of the president's records as part of a subpoena order from House Democrats.

The latest ruling follows the president's appeal of a May decision from US District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who ruled that the banks must comply with a congressional request for financial records from the president and his company, as well as similar records from the Trump family.

The ruling targets Mr Trump, his sons Donald Jr and Eric Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump, and the Trump Irrevocable Trust, the Trump Organisation and Trump Acquisition.

The House Intelligence and House Financial Services committees sought the records as part of a Congressional investigation into foreign influence in US elections, prior to the current impeachment probe in Congress.

The president is likely to challenge the latest ruling at the US Supreme Court, where he already has sought appeals for two other cases related to his financial records, requested in subpoenas by a House committee and New York state prosecutors probing the president's accounting firm Mazars USA.

The records, including the president's tax returns, could provide some transparency into the state of the president's finances, including his financial dealings abroad and potential conflicts of interest.

The latest rulings says Congress has the authority to obtain those records as part of its investigative duties, as well as to determine the "scope of the Russian government's operations to influence the US political process" and whether Mr Trump "was vulnerable to foreign exploitation".

According to disclosure reports, the president has relied on Deutsche Bank as a principal lender in his real estate business, with at least $130m in liabilities tied up with the bank.

But the bank also was targeted by a congressional probe that had identified Russian oligarchs using the bank as a likely money laundering operation.

Multiple court rulings have denied arguments from Mr Trump's attorneys, who said Mr Trump's presidency provides him immunity from criminal prosecution, and that the subpoenas are part of a politically motivated scheme without any "legitimate legislative purpose".

Mr Trump broke from a tradition of sitting presidents and candidates releasing their tax returns.

But the appeals court ruling says Congress has "a far more significant public interest than whatever public interest inheres in avoiding the risk" of Mr Trump's "distraction arising from disclosure of documents reflecting his private financial transactions".

The ruling also points to precedence in Supreme Court rulings that defended congressional impeachment investigations, including Richard Nixon handing over tape recordings and Bill Clinton submitting a deposition.