House Intelligence panel narrows subpoena focus to Trump and his immediate family

Kerry Eleveld
and
Daily Kos
27 August 2020

Following a Supreme Court ruling on the matter, the House Intelligence Committee has narrowed a subpoena request to focus more specifically on Donald Trump and the immediate members of his family: Eric Trump, Don Jr., and Ivanka Trump.

The subpoena, which was originally broader and issued to Trump's longtime lender Deutsche Bank, "no longer seeks financial records for any other members of President Trump’s family,” according to a memo released by the House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff. Schiff added that the panel had taken action voluntarily in order to “accelerate resolution” of the matter.

According to TPM, the move came after the Supreme Court laid out a new test last month instructing courts to weigh congressional subpoenas targeting a sitting president against whether the information can be obtained elsewhere, how broad the subpoena is, its legislative purpose, and how burdensome complying would be for a president.

Trump had been fighting the original subpoena for over a year and will surely battle the newly abridged subpoena as well.

In the memo, Schiff said the financial records request were part of the panel's continuing investigation into “counterintelligence risks arising from the President’s foreign financial ties, including whether foreign powers possess financial leverage over the President.”