President Trump sues Democratic House chairman to block subpoena for private financial records

President Donald Trump and several of his private organizations have sued House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and others in an attempt to block the committee's subpoena for 10 years' worth of documents relating to Trump's business records.

What are the details?

Last month, Cummings issued a letter to New York accounting firm Mazars USA asking for all financial statements, reports, communications, and other items "with respect to Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization Inc., the Trump Organization LLC, the Trump Corporation, DJT Holdings LLC, the Trump Old Post Office LLC, the Trump Foundation, and any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, joint venture, predecessor, or successor" dating back to Jan. 1, 2009.

The committee chairman explained the move was prompted by testimony from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who alleged "that President Trump changed the estimated value of his assets and liabilities on financial statements prepared by" Mazars.

Mazars responded that it "cannot voluntarily turn over the documents." So, Cummings issued a subpoena to Mazars in an attempt to force the firm to hand over their client's confidential records.

Ranking member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) condemned the chairman's actions beforehand, calling the move "an unprecedented abuse of the Committee's subpoena authority to target and expose the private financial information of the President of the United States."

On Monday, the president, his business entities, and his revocable trust sued Cummings and the chief investigative counsel of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to stop the order, arguing the subpoena "lacks any legislative purpose, is an abuse of power, and is just another example of overreach by the president's political opponents." Mazars was also named as a defendant "to ensure that Plaintiffs can obtain effective relief."

Personal Trump attorney Jay Sekulow issued a statement promising, "We will not allow congressional presidential harassment to go unanswered," Fox News reported.

How did Cummings respond?

According to NBC News, Cummings responded to the lawsuit Monday afternoon by saying the president "has a long history of trying to use baseless lawsuits to attack his adversaries, but there is simply no valid legal basis to interfere with this duly authorized subpoena from Congress."