Deutsche Bank asks for more time for US Trump/Russia query

FRANKFURT, June 5: Germany’s largest bank has asked for more time to respond to a request from Democrats on a US House of Representatives panel for details about US President Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Deutsche Bank’s external counsel sent a letter dated Friday June 2 to the Democrats saying it needed additional time, the source told Reuters. The person spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to specify how much more time the bank’s counsel needed.

Several Democrats on the US House Financial Services Committee sent a letter last month to John Cryan, chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank, seeking details that might show if Trump’s loans for his real estate business were backed by the Russian government. The letter asked for details of internal reviews of Trump’s transactions and gave the German bank until Friday to respond.

Deutsche Bank has declined to comment about any business dealings with Trump.

The Republican president is mired in controversy over FBI and congressional probes into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and potential collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. Moscow has denied the allegations, and Trump has denied any collusion.

Maxine Waters, Democrat representative for California and a member of the committee, was one of the original letter’s five signatories. She confirmed through a staff member on Monday that Deutsche did not provide “substantive responses to our requests”.