Deutsche Bank Does Not Have Trump’s Tax Returns, Court Says

The German bank — which for nearly two decades was the only mainstream financial institution consistently willing to lend money to Mr. Trump — has told a federal appeals court that it does not have the president’s personal tax returns, the court said on Thursday.

Democratic-controlled congressional committees issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank this year for financial records related to the president, his companies and his family. Mr. Trump sued the bank, which became his main lender after a string of bankruptcies cost other banks hundreds of millions of dollars, to block it from complying.

That litigation is working its way through the federal courts. Last month, The New York Times and other media outlets asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York to unseal a letter from Deutsche Bank that identified two members of the Trump family whose tax returns the bank possesses. On Thursday, the court rejected the request. Part of the reason, it said, was that Deutsche Bank had informed the court that “the only tax returns it has for individuals and entities named in the subpoenas are not those of the president.”

Current and former bank officials previously told The Times that Deutsche Bank had portions of Mr. Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns. The bank collected at least some of those tax records in 2011, when Deutsche Bank’s private-banking arm — which caters to the ultra-wealthy — took on Mr. Trump as a client. The returns and other financial documents were reviewed by a number of bank executives, according to the current and former officials.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/business/deutsche-bank-trump-tax-returns.html

Much of former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign message seems to be premised on “Trump’s dangerous and I’ll beat him like a drum” But while electability is important, it’s a limited message, one with a shelf life lasting only through the early primaries. And it’s useless in the general election (since no one votes for a candidate in a two-person race because he can win).

But most important, putting all of his eggs in the Trump basket is especially dangerous for Biden and the country given our current political situation. The impeachment battle has changed the dynamics.

What if Trump’s not the nominee? If Trump resigns or is removed from office – surely not a certain or even very likely outcome at this point, but something that is more possible than we thought just a few weeks ago – what will be Biden’s rationale for getting votes?

“Vote for me or else you’ll get four more years of Trump” won’t work if Biden finds himself running against Mitt Romney or John Kasich. And if, God forbid, Nicki Haley is the Republican nominee, “Vote for me because I’m not as awful as Trump” won’t cut it. Biden needs a solid message that tells people why they should vote FOR him, a reason that’s about and for BIDEN, not against Trump.

https://blog.stephaniejones.com/2019/10/10/biden-needs-a-better-message-than-i-can-beat-trump/

Trump Urged Top Aide to Help Giuliani Client Facing DOJ Charges

President Donald Trump pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help persuade the Justice Department to drop a criminal case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Rudy Giuliani, according to three people familiar with the 2017 meeting in the Oval Office.

Tillerson refused, arguing it would constitute interference in an ongoing investigation of the trader, Reza Zarrab, according to the people. They said other participants in the Oval Office were shocked by the request.

Tillerson immediately repeated his objections to then-Chief of Staff John Kelly in a hallway conversation just outside the Oval Office, emphasizing that the request would be illegal. Neither episode has been previously reported, and all of the people spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conversations.

The White House declined to comment. Kelly and Tillerson declined to comment via representatives. Another person familiar with the matter said the Justice Department never considered dropping the criminal case.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-09/trump-urged-top-aide-to-help-giuliani-client-facing-doj-charges?fbclid=IwAR3RcXQVa6WYuiPft2aiL0Jxf3g_wztIYpuZAauAWkNtuGUjI_1OUvvSuGQ

Justice Department asks judge to block House from getting Mueller grand jury materials, says Watergate decision was wrong

"Howell asked a Justice Department lawyer if grand jury materials that the department is currently withholding from Congress have been shared with foreign government officials.

"'I don't know the answer to that,' the lawyer responded. The attorney said the department would update Howell by Friday on that question."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/10/08/justice-department-objects-to-house-getting-mueller-grand-jury-info.html

Supreme Court agrees to review Louisiana’s abortion law that could limit women’s access

The court said it would consider whether the 2014 law requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals unduly burdens women’s access to abortion. Critics of the law have said that, if it takes effect, most of the state’s abortion clinics would be forced to close, leaving the state with only one doctor eligible to perform the procedure.
https://wapo.st/31Scajq