President Donald Trump and his business organization are suing House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings to stop subpoenas for financial information from the president’s businesses.
Trump filed the lawsuit Monday morning in D.C. District Court after Cummings authorized subpoenas for Mazars USA LLP, the president’s longtime accountant, along with a few Trump entities.
The subpoena seeks years of financial records, communications and notes related to Trump’s financial condition from Mazars, which had informed Cummings it would not voluntarily comply with the requests.
The president, in a strongly worded complaint, claims Congress only has oversight power insofar as it relates to producing legislation.
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“Chairman Cummings has ignored the constitutional limits on Congress’ power to investigate,” the complaint filed reads. “Article I of the Constitution does not contain an ‘Investigations Clause’ or an ‘Oversight Clause.’ It gives Congress the power to enact certain legislation. Accordingly, investigations are legitimate only insofar as they further some legitimate legislative purpose.”
“We welcome the opportunity to represent President Trump and the other plaintiffs in this matter,” a joint statement from Trump’s lawyers reads. “The committee’s attempt to obtain years’ worth of confidential information from their accountants lacks any legitimate legislative purposes, is an abuse of power, and is just another example of overreach by the president’s political opponents. We look forward to vindicating our clients’ rights in this matter.”
The Baltimore Democrat responded to the suit by saying the legal complaint “reads more like political talking points than a reasoned legal brief.”
“The president has a long history of trying to use baseless lawsuits to attack his adversaries, but there is simply no valid legal basis to interfere with this duly authorized subpoena from Congress,” Cummings said. “It [the complaint] contains a litany of inaccurate information. The White House is engaged in unprecedented stonewalling on all fronts, and they have refused to produce a single document or witness to the Oversight Committee during this entire year.”
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