Democrat Maxine Waters vows scrutiny of Trump-Deutsche Bank ties if chair

Democrat Maxine Waters, in line to take over the House Financial Services Committee, told colleagues she would undertake a deep dive into President Donald Trump’s “money trail,” beginning with ties to Deutsche Bank AG.

In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, Waters promised that if she becomes the next chair of the panel with oversight over Wall Street she would look at Deutsche Bank and examine any so-called suspicious activity reports filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Waters -- often attacked by Trump as “low IQ” Maxine Waters -- has long sought to scrutinize the president’s finances. She reached out to colleagues as she seeks to firm up support for her bid to lead the committee.

“With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for America’s consumers and investors will continue to be challenging,” Waters wrote. “But I am more than up to that fight.”

Waters in memo touts what she says are her prior accomplishments and areas of focus, including “holding bad actors accountable.” She also says credit reporting reform and holding Equifax Inc. “accountable for its massive breach” would be a focus of the committee under her watch.

Earlier this week, Waters told Bloomberg Television that Deutsche Bank’s lending to Trump is likely to be a focus of scrutiny for Democrats now that they are set to take control of the House in January, gaining power to launch investigations. Federal law requires financial institutions to file reports on a broad range of potentially suspicious activities, such as payments of more than $10,000 or involving government officials. The filings are confidential and don’t necessarily indicate wrongdoing.

Deutsche Bank was one of the few banks “amenable” to providing Trump with financing before he became president, she said in the interview. “We want to know some things about that.”