CNN
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President Donald Trump’s business trust sued Capital One for closing its bank accounts in 2021, claiming the Virginia lender “debanked” them over their political views causing “considerable financial harm.”
The lawsuit, which was filed by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust and Eric Trump in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Friday, accuses the bank of violating Florida and other state consumer laws and is seeking damages.
Trump claims his business was harmed when Capital One abruptly notified them in March 2021 that hundreds of bank accounts holding millions of dollars would be closed in two months. The lawsuit claims more broadly consumers are losing access to the banking system because of differences in political views.
“Plaintiffs have reason to believe that Capital One’s unilateral decision came about as a result of political and social motivations and Capital One’s unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views,” according to the lawsuit.
“Capital One’s conduct is but one example of a systemic, subversive industry practice that aims to coerce the public to shift and re-align their political views,” the lawsuit alleges.
In a statement, a Capital One spokesperson said, “Capital One has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons.”
Trump said he was informed on March 8, 2021, that the accounts would be closed in June causing them widespread harm.
“Plaintiffs suffered considerable financial harm and losses caused not only by the interruption to their access to Capital One’s banking services, but also by the devastating impact on Plaintiffs’ ability to transact and access their monies,” according to the lawsuit.
Other financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank and Signature Bank, stopped doing business with Trump in early 2021 following the attack on the US Capitol.
The account closure also came while the Trump family and the Trump Organization, which is fully owned by the trust, were facing civil and criminal investigations over its finances.
Its long-time accountants were subpoenaed for financial records by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Employees at Trump’s insurer and one of its lenders, Deutsche Bank, were interviewed by prosecutors. The New York attorney general’s office interviewed Trump’s long-time chief financial officer as part of its civil investigation.
Two Trump Organization entities were indicted on tax fraud charges that July and found guilty at trial. The following year, the attorney general’s office sued the Trumps and its business for engaging in a decade long fraud. A New York state judge found the Trumps liable for fraud for inflating the value of certain assets to obtain loans and issued a $454 million judgement, which is on appeal.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to note that Capital One is based in Virginia.
