- The Trump organization sued Capital One for completing its accounts after January 6, 2021.
- The lawsuit claims it was “de-banked” due to President Donald Trump’s political views.
- The lawsuit was filed as Capital One is seeking federal regulatory approval for its union Discover.
President Donald Trump’s family business empire has sued Capital One about what he described in the courts as the “reckless” decision of the bank to terminate hundreds of its accounts following the January 6th attack, in the US Capitol by a pro-trump crowd.
The Trump organization claims in a lawsuit, filed Friday at the Miami-Dade Circuit District Court of Florida, the capital “De-Bankoi” company accounts holding millions of dollars due to Trump’s political views.
“Plaintiffs have reason to believe that the one -sided decision of capital One came as a result of political and social motivations and unfounded capital, ‘I woke up’ the beliefs that he had to distance himself from President Trump and his conservative political views,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit places capital one in a somewhat unsafe position with the Trump administration. The bank still has to receive approval from the Federal Bank regulators for its proposed $ 35 billion merger with discover financial services.
Trump, during his 2024 presidential campaign, constantly vowed revenge on his political rivals and critics if re -elected.
Adam Levitin, a professor of Georgetown law who is specialized in financial regulation, said in a blog post that capital should be able to “easily” the issue to rest, but may not matter “because the Trump organization has a barrel”.
“If Capital One does not pay, the implied threat is that the Trump administration will move to block the union of a capital discovery and generally make life uncomfortable for Capital One,” Leviti wrote in The Post on Slips Credit blog.
“The real question here is whether Capital One will fight this, and if so, how hard,” continued Leviti in the post. “Capital should get this if there are disputes, but it is likely to come with the cost of joining them with discover. Payment of several million for the Trump organization in a solution is a very low cost for joining wheels.”
Levitin did not return a comment request.
The Trump organization’s lawsuit against Capital One claims debit company accounts due to President Donald Trump’s political views. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Financial consultant and author Todd Baker called the lawsuit “an example of what can be called the” Protection Rocket “approach to the government”.
Less than two weeks ago, the Federal Consumer Financial Bureau of the Consumer filed a lawsuit accusing the capital of a fraudulent clients from $ 2 billion in interest payments, noted Baker.
Agreement of the lawsuit and waiting for the discovery now “sends a clear message: it would certainly be a shame if something would happen to your small union,” said Baker, who teaches the law and schools of Columbia University.
“I did a favor; now I do a favor, and I will do you another favor,” he added. “According to any other definition by the Supreme Court, this is Quid Pro Quo Corruption.”
The White House did not comment on this story. Trump and Capital One organizations did not immediately respond to a comment request on Monday.
George Hay, a professor at the Cornell Law School who was the chief economist of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, told Business Insider most antitrust observers “probably believe the proposed union was very pro-competitive, discovering it in much more serious competition.”
Hay said that “would take a big risk” if it went to Sue to block the purchase of the Discover Capital One “when the chances of winning are so small and it would be difficult to get career staff to board such a case.”
But getting the union approved by federal regulators can be another story, said antitrust law expert.
“A banking authority may simply be able to say no” without having to prove the case in court, Hay said.
Trump organization – which is poisoned by Trump’s son Eric Trump, who was also appointed plaintiff in the lawsuit – said in a statement last week that he was looking for “holding capital responsibility one for millions of dollars in the damage they caused, not only for our company, but for tens of properties, hundreds of tenants and thousands of trump employees.”
“This lawsuit, and those that follow, are the necessary steps to protect the integrity of American business practices and to ensure that no company or an individual is unfairly targeted for their beliefs, affiliation or activities,” the Trump organization said. “We will not stand by while large banks misuse their power to thwart businesses and harm innocent Americans.”
The lawsuit accuses the capital one of ‘illegal, deceitful and reckless behavior’
The one against Capital One says Trump’s real estate company and Golf Resort Company and its connected entities have transmitted “tens of millions of dollars” through the bank for decades.
In March 2021, Capital One “without warning or provocation” informed the plaintiffs that more than 300 of their accounts would be completed, the Trump organization’s claim and statement states.
“Basically, the capital a” de-banked “plaintiffs calculates because Capital One believed that political tide was currently favored by doing so,” says the lawsuit, which accuses the bank “illegal, deceptive and reckless” behavior.
The lawsuit, which requires damage, claims violations of consumer protection laws and fraud of some states.
Aaron Klein of the institution Brookings Think Tank told Bi that when he explored the problem of American debit Eric Trump and the Trump organization were hardly the victims he had in mind.
“People have left the banking system all the time,” he said. “The reason number 1 is that they don’t have enough money because bank account fees are very expensive.”
Klein, an elderly friend and chairman of Miriam K. Carliner in brookings, also said the time of the lawsuit was obvious.
“There is a very interesting time that immediately before the bank’s largest unification currently pending, this claim was made about the activity that happened years ago. When Trump himself was talking about debt in Davos he did not mention this,” Klein added. “Someone thinks he may have mentioned him then.”