The head of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, says Congressional Democrats are prepared to fight President Donald Trump "tooth and nail" to gain access to information her and other House committees have requested.

Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.

The lawsuit by Trump, sons Donald Jr. and Eric and daughter Ivanka was filed Monday in federal court in New York. The Trump Organization and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust are among the other plaintiffs.

Two House committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the Republican president's finances.

The lawsuit comes as Trump is engaged in a struggle with House Democrats as they seek to investigate him and his administration on multiple fronts.

In many ways, House Democrats are trying to have it both ways - pursuing the investigations that could serve as a prelude to impeachment proceedings without taking the politically fraught step of calling it impeachment.

On Tuesday, some Democrats stopped short of calling for impeachment.

"I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.

"I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."

Washington - 30 April 2019

++EDIT STARTS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

++AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING++

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

"The president of the United States continues in his resistance to any and all investigations. Yes, he's filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One and trying to prevent them from cooperating with us and giving us the documents that we have requested. You know whether it is refusing to sit down in an interview with Mueller or whether it is, you know, constantly obstructing justice by trying to stop testimonies and stop people from cooperating or whether it's filing a lawsuit, he obviously has something to hide. He is obviously afraid that we are going to learn more about his relationships with Deutsche Bank, more about his bankruptcies, perhaps, more about whether or not there is money laundering that's been involved in some ways. We have enough information. And we have enough to help us to guide us to moving forward with these subpoenas. ... We are prepared to fight tooth and nail. The president has cast a gauntlet. He's prepared to fight us tooth and nail. And we're prepared to fight him back."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

" I think that all of the information that we were able to unveil about the president will help Americans to come to a decision about whether or not you should be impeached."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

"The relationship with Deutsche Bank is unusual. Why would they lend him billions of dollars? He filed a lawsuit against them. No other bank would lend him money but they have done so. And why? Why is this happening? I think we need to find out."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D) Maryland:

"The president has escalated the conflict with Congress. The obstructionism that we read about in the Mueller report has come galloping off the pages and right on to our front door step. The president's refusing to cooperate with the Ways and Means Committee, with the Judiciary Committee, with Oversight Committee, with the Finance Committee and members are unhappy."

5. Raskin walks away

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D) Illinois: (responding to reporter question on whether Democrats are closer to deciding to move forward on impeachment)

"I don't think so. I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas? I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld the Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."

The head of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, says Congressional Democrats are prepared to fight President Donald Trump "tooth and nail" to gain access to information her and other House committees have requested.

Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.

The lawsuit by Trump, sons Donald Jr. and Eric and daughter Ivanka was filed Monday in federal court in New York. The Trump Organization and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust are among the other plaintiffs.

Two House committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the Republican president's finances.

The lawsuit comes as Trump is engaged in a struggle with House Democrats as they seek to investigate him and his adminstration on multiple fronts.

In many ways, House Democrats are trying to have it both ways - pursuing the investigations that could serve as a prelude to impeachment proceedings without taking the politically fraught step of calling it impeachment.

On Tuesday, some Democrats stopped short of calling for impeachment.

"I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. "I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."

Washington - 30 April 2019

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

"The president of the United States continues in his resistance to any and all investigations. Yes, he's filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One and trying to prevent them from cooperating with us and giving us the documents that we have requested. You know whether it is refusing to sit down in an interview with Mueller or whether it is, you know, constantly obstructing justice by trying to stop testimonies and stop people from cooperating or whether it's filing a lawsuit, he obviously has something to hide. He is obviously afraid that we are going to learn more about his relationships with Deutsche Bank, more about his bankruptcies, perhaps, more about whether or not there is money laundering that's been involved in some ways. We have enough information. And we have enough to help us to guide us to moving forward with these subpoenas. ... We are prepared to fight tooth and nail. The president has cast the gauntlet. He's prepared to fight us tooth and nail. And we're prepared to fight him back."

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D) Maryland:

"I think the president has escalated the conflict with Congress. The obstructionism that we read about in the Mueller report has come galloping off the pages and right on to our front door step. The president's refusing to cooperate with the Ways and Means Committee, with the Judiciary Committee, with Oversight Committee, with the Finance Committee and members are unhappy."

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D) Illinois: (responding to reporter question on whether Democrats are closer to deciding to move forward on impeachment)

"I don't think so. I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas. I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."

The head of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, says Congressional Democrats are prepared to fight President Donald Trump "tooth and nail" to gain access to information her and other House committees have requested.

Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.

The lawsuit by Trump, sons Donald Jr. and Eric and daughter Ivanka was filed Monday in federal court in New York. The Trump Organization and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust are among the other plaintiffs.

Two House committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions earlier this month as part of investigations into the Republican president's finances.

The lawsuit comes as Trump is engaged in a struggle with House Democrats as they seek to investigate him and his administration on multiple fronts.

In many ways, House Democrats are trying to have it both ways - pursuing the investigations that could serve as a prelude to impeachment proceedings without taking the politically fraught step of calling it impeachment.

On Tuesday, some Democrats stopped short of calling for impeachment.

"I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.

"I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."

Washington - 30 April 2019

++EDIT STARTS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

++AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING++

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

"The president of the United States continues in his resistance to any and all investigations. Yes, he's filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One and trying to prevent them from cooperating with us and giving us the documents that we have requested. You know whether it is refusing to sit down in an interview with Mueller or whether it is, you know, constantly obstructing justice by trying to stop testimonies and stop people from cooperating or whether it's filing a lawsuit, he obviously has something to hide. He is obviously afraid that we are going to learn more about his relationships with Deutsche Bank, more about his bankruptcies, perhaps, more about whether or not there is money laundering that's been involved in some ways. We have enough information. And we have enough to help us to guide us to moving forward with these subpoenas. ... We are prepared to fight tooth and nail. The president has cast a gauntlet. He's prepared to fight us tooth and nail. And we're prepared to fight him back."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

" I think that all of the information that we were able to unveil about the president will help Americans to come to a decision about whether or not you should be impeached."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California:  

"The relationship with Deutsche Bank is unusual. Why would they lend him billions of dollars? He filed a lawsuit against them. No other bank would lend him money but they have done so. And why? Why is this happening? I think we need to find out."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D) Maryland:

"The president has escalated the conflict with Congress. The obstructionism that we read about in the Mueller report has come galloping off the pages and right on to our front door step. The president's refusing to cooperate with the Ways and Means Committee, with the Judiciary Committee, with Oversight Committee, with the Finance Committee and members are unhappy."

5. Raskin walks away

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D) Illinois: (responding to reporter question on whether Democrats are closer to deciding to move forward on impeachment)

"I don't think so. I think that right now we're just staring at the challenge in front of our face, which is how do we enforce the subpoenas? I think the courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld the Congress' right to investigate, issue subpoenas and hold people in contempt so if they want to litigate, we'll see them in court."