Trump appeals ruling that backed subpoenas for bank records

Lawyers for President Donald Trump told an appeals court Friday that he's challenging a federal judge's refusal to block congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from two banks that did business with him.

The official notice of appeal was filed in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos had ruled earlier this week that Trump and his company were unlikely to succeed in a lawsuit arguing that the demands for records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One were unlawful and unconstitutional.

Ramos also concluded that the subpoenas have "a legitimate legislative purpose."

The ruling came shortly after a federal judge in Washington ruled against Trump in a similar case, finding that the president cannot block a House subpoena for information from a financial services firm that had done accounting work for him and the Trump Organization.

The lawyers for the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees say they need access to documents from the banks to investigate possible "foreign influence in the U.S. political process."

Deutsche Bank has lent Trump's real estate company millions of dollars over the years. The banks took no position in the dispute.