Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Michael Cohen told Congress that Donald Trump inflated his assets to improve his odds of buying the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, a gambit that eventually failed.
Late Monday night, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for records related to Trump’s unsuccessful NFL bid and several other Trump Organization projects, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
First reported by The New York Times, the subpoenas are based largely on Cohen’s recent testimony, the source told ABC News. The subpoenas also are seeking records related to other transactions including Trump International Hotels in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Florida.
Deutsche Bank, which couldn’t be reached late Monday night for comment, previously has cooperated with other Trump-related inquiries, including last year when called on by New York bank regulators. That inquiry ended without further action taken.
Investors Bank and the Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.
As part of a lawsuit brought by then-New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, the president’s charity agreed in December to dissolve itself under judicial supervision, meaning the attorney general’s office would review and approve disbursements of the Trump Foundation’s remaining assets.
At the time, the foundation had about $1.75 million in cash, in addition to physical assets including paintings of Trump that he’d paid for with foundation money, according to Underwood’s office.
The case brought by Underwood alleged that Trump and his three eldest children, also Trump Foundation board members, repeatedly used donations for personal, political and business purposes, including legal fees and campaign contributions.
Their conduct, Underwood said at the time, “amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”
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