Dems Want Details On Russian Money Laundering

Deutsche Bank received a letter from a group of Democrat senators Thursday (May 24) requesting information on two internal reviews the financial services company conducted about Russia and President Donald Trump.

In a press release issued Thursday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, Congressman Daniel Kildee (D-MI), Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade, Congressman Al Green (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations and Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, sent the letter to the CEO of Deutsche Bank requesting information on a 2011 Russian mirror trading scandal and a separate inquiry into whether the accounts of President Trump and his family members held at the bank had any ties to Russia.

“Deutsche Bank’s pattern of involvement in money laundering schemes with primarily Russian participation, its unconventional relationship with the President and its repeated violations of U.S. banking laws over the past several years all raise serious questions about whether the bank’s reported reviews of the mirror trading scheme and Trump’s financial ties to Russia were sufficiently robust,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The lawmakers said that in March, Waters and committee Democrats wrote to Chairman Hensarling, calling for the committee to use the full range of its investigative powers to examine Deutsche Bank’s Russian money-laundering operation and assess the integrity of the U.S. Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into the scheme, given the Trump Administration’s conflicts of interest in the matter and the revelations of Attorney General Sessions’ communications with the Russian Ambassador, the lawmakers said, noting Chairman Hensarling has not responded to that letter as of yet.