Trump’s family organization saw hundreds of accounts closed after a major bank found it was moving money around in a suspicious way.
In a new court filing, Capital One revealed that it closed the cluster of more than 300 bank accounts belonging to Trump and his family in 2021 after they were flagged over money-laundering concerns. The bank’s new disclosure only surfaced because the Trump Organization and Eric Trump sued the bank last year in federal court, claiming that it rejected the Trump family’s business for political reasons.
Capital One’s legal team is seeking to have the case against it dismissed, arguing that the Trump group’s lawsuit rests on “vague allegations of political discrimination,” ignoring the factual reasons behind the decision to terminate the accounts.
The bank’s latest legal filing cites “anti-money-laundering (‘AML’) reasons” as the justification for purging the accounts. “The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance,” the filing states.
A shifting political landscape
The closures came in March 2021, a few months after the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during a phase when social media companies and other businesses rejected the then-former president, citing his involvement in inciting the day’s violence.
The Trump Organization noted this political atmosphere in its lawsuit against Capital One over the accounts, which it filed four years after the fact in March of last year. “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,” the lawsuit stated.
In the suit, the Trump organization alleged that the banking woes caused it financial harm and claimed that the debanking incident was an example of a “systemic, subversive industry practice that aims to coerce the public to shift and re-align their political views” against conservatives. At the time, Capital One denied the accusation, asserting that it has never closed customer accounts over politics.
While we know few details of the kind of transactions that Capital One identified, the bank didn’t mince words about its rigorous investigation process. “Plaintiffs cannot meaningfully criticize the robust process undertaken by Capital One’s [anti-money-laundering] professionals with decades of law enforcement experience in deciding to close the accounts,” the filing states.