California Rep. Maxine Waters offered some stunning insights into the investigation to Donald Trump’s financial antics on Friday’s All In with Chris Hayes. Last year, the House Financial Services Committee, which Waters now chairs, asked Deutsche Bank to cooperate with them, but the bank didn’t feel that Democrats had the authority to request any documents. But oh, how times have changed.
In less than two minutes, Chairwoman Waters then lays out the obvious suspicions—notably, of money laundering—that have been sparked by Trump and his family and their business with Deutsche Bank. She reminds Hays that Trump’s numerous bankruptcies, among other things, made him undesirable to other reputable institutions who’d refused him loans. Furthermore, Rep. Waters revealed, the Bank has their own reports on Trump, and the Committee is going to get those reports.
Just before the clip ends, Hayes asks the Golden State Democrat to confirm that last detail.
Hayes: So you have staffers that are coordinating with Deutsche Bank on document production right now
Rep. Waters: Yes I do.
Waters and Democrats digging deeper in this area is certainly warranted, especially after Michael Cohen’s public testimony cast further scrutiny upon the relationship between the Trumps and Deutsche Bank, since banks normally do a very thorough job when checking into assets.
Under questioning from Representative Lacy Clay of Missouri, Michael Cohen alleged that those financial documents were inflated and used for the purpose of obtaining a loan.
"Did the President ever provide inflated assets to a bank in order to help him obtain a loan?" Congressman Clay asked Cohen.
"These documents and others were provided to Deutsche Bank, in one occasion when I was with them, to attempt to obtain money so that we can put a bid on the Buffalo Bills," Cohen responded.
In her appearance on All In, Waters also mentioned multiple ongoing money laundering issues at Deutsche Bank, and as recently as last year, the bank was raided by German police.
German police raided Deutsche's Frankfurt headquarters on Thursday as part of a money-laundering probe related to the Panama Papers scandal. Investigations tied to the 2016 disclosure of previously private bank and legal records linked to shell companies created by a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca & Co., revealed that Deutsche had used that network to help its clients create offshore accounts and avoid taxes.
German officials said Thursday's raid was unrelated to another problem currently hanging over Deutsche: its role in helping Danske Bank A/S launder billions of dollars for the Denmark bank's clients.
Watching Waters in this video and her command of the issues is very comforting. Remember when the occupant in the White House called her “low IQ?” Low IQ my ass. Waters is extremely intelligent and Trump’s worst nightmare.
Republicans did absolutely nothing but cover up for Trump for two years. In less than two months of Democratic control of the House, Waters and her colleagues are opening up the floodgates, revealing to Americans that they are dead serious about their constitutional duty of oversight as they plumb the seemingly endless depths of Trump’s corruption.
Elections have consequences. Check and balances and oversight are beautiful things.