After fighting a subpoena from Congress for months, the bank for Fusion GPS has handed over financial records Friday, a court filing revealed.
A lawyer for the House of Representatives announced that TD Bank had produced all "remaining responsive documents" to the House Intelligence Committee.
What is Fusion GPS?
The company was hired by the Washington Free Beacon during the primaries to dig up opposition research on Donald Trump, a candidate at the time, and other presidential hopefuls. When they abandoned the project, the Democratic National Committee later continued the funding, which eventually led to the production of the infamous "Trump dossier" by former British spy Christopher Steele.
The dossier is alleged by many of Trump's allies to have been created purely for the sake of providing the Obama administration a pretense for illegally surveilling Trump and his associates before the election.
Why had they resisted the subpoena?
Fusion GPS argued that handing over their financial documents would leave them vulnerable to having their clients exposed through leaks. A judge disagreed with them and ordered them to follow the subpoena.
"There is a significant risk of leaks from the investigation, and leaks have already resulted in retaliation against a senior Justice Department attorney whose wife, a Russia expert, has done work for Fusion in the past," Fusion GPS's lawyers argued.
A Civil Rights violation?
Although TD Bank says they have handed over the documents, lawyers for Fusion GPS say they will continue to fight the investigation by the committee.
"Instead of focusing its efforts on Russian meddling in the presidential election, the committee is misusing its investigatory powers to punish and smear Fusion GPS for its role in examining ties between Mr. Trump and Russia," their lawyer said. "The committee is violating Fusion's First Amendment and due process rights and we intend to continue seeking to protect those rights."
Carlos Garcia
Staff Writer
