Poli Alert Politics & Civics
Related Articles
Capital One is asking a federal judge to dismiss the Trump Organization’s lawsuit over the closure of hundreds of its bank accounts, arguing the decision resulted from a months-long anti-money-laundering review rather than political retaliation following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
In a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Florida, the bank said its financial crimes team conducted an extensive compliance review before deciding to terminate approximately 385 accounts belonging to the Trump Organization, Eric Trump and affiliated businesses.
The bank rejected allegations that it severed ties with the companies because of President Donald Trump’s role in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
“Capital One closed Plaintiffs’ accounts for anti-money laundering (‘AML’) reasons,” the bank’s attorneys wrote, adding that the decision followed “months of analysis and a careful review” by investigators with decades of law enforcement experience.
The lawsuit, originally filed earlier this year and amended in July, alleges Capital One sought to distance itself from Trump after Jan. 6 and later used anti-money-laundering concerns as a pretext to justify the closures.
Capital One called that allegation unsupported, arguing the complaint relies on “cherry-picked quotations” that mischaracterize the bank’s internal records.
Bank cites contractual authority
Capital One also argues the lawsuit fails because its account agreements expressly allowed the bank to close customer accounts “at any time, for any or no reason and without notice.”
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman previously dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March, ruling that such contractual language generally gives banks broad discretion to end customer relationships.
The bank is now asking Altman to dismiss the revised complaint with prejudice, preventing the Trump Organization from filing another amended lawsuit.
Capital One further argues it had no legal obligation to explain why it closed the accounts and says federal banking laws prohibited it from disclosing confidential anti-money-laundering findings.
According to the filing, the Bank Secrecy Act restricts financial institutions from revealing certain internal compliance investigations.
Trump Organization disputes explanation
The accounts at issue belonged to numerous Trump-affiliated entities, including a winery, bottled water company and golf course developer. The businesses had banked with Capital One for more than a decade before the accounts were closed in 2021.
The Trump Organization alleges it was never given an opportunity to address any alleged anti-money-laundering concerns before the closures.
Large portions of the amended complaint remain sealed by court order, including a section titled “January 6, 2021: The Political Trigger.”
Capital One said it never publicly disclosed its reasons for ending the banking relationship and gave the Trump entities several months, along with multiple deadline extensions, to transfer their funds to other institutions.
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the latest filing.
Broader legal and political battle
The dispute is one of several lawsuits filed by Trump-affiliated entities against major financial institutions since Trump returned to the White House.
A separate lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase alleges that bank also improperly closed Trump-related accounts during the same period.
The issue has become part of a broader political debate over what Trump and other conservatives have described as “debanking” — allegations that financial institutions have denied banking services based on customers’ political views.
Last year, Trump signed an executive order directing federal regulators to investigate claims of politically motivated account closures.
Capital One previously clashed with Trump during his first administration. In 2019, Trump sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank in an unsuccessful effort to block the banks from complying with congressional subpoenas seeking his financial records.
The court has not yet ruled on Capital One’s latest motion to dismiss.
