Deutsche Bank storefront. Photo: Michael A. Scarcella/ ALM

Deutsche Bank revealed for the first time Friday that it has in its possession the tax filings of two individuals, not entities, within the family of President Donald Trump, but said contractual obligations still bar the company from revealing at least one of those names.

The filing was in response to a motion from a coalition of major media outlets, which asked a federal appellate court to force Deutsche Bank to reveal their identities this month.

"Based on Deutsche Bank's current knowledge and the results of the extensive searches that have already been conducted, the bank has in its possession tax returns (in either draft or as-filed form) responsive to the subpoenas for two individuals, not entities, named in the subpoenas," attorneys for Deutsche Bank wrote.

The subpoenas referenced in the filing were sent to Deutsche Bank from Democrats in Congress earlier this year, who were seeking documents related to the finances of Trump and his three eldest children: Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump.

An attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives has said those subpoenas were part of a broader effort to investigate money laundering and foreign influence on the U.S. government.

Attorneys for Trump sued Deutsche Bank earlier this year to block the company from disclosing his financial information to Congress, including his tax filings. A federal judge declined to grant a motion by Trump's attorneys for a preliminary injunction, which is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Deutsche Bank, represented by Raphael Prober from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C., was ordered by the federal appellate court in August to disclose whether it had the tax filings of any Trump family member or entity targeted by the subpoenas.

In a letter to the Second Circuit, Deutsche Bank confirmed last month that it had tax filings related to the Trump family but declined to say publicly if they belonged to an individual or entity. The company also chose to redact the number of tax filings it had.

That changed Friday when Deutsche Bank said it had the tax returns of two individuals targeted by the subpoenas from Congress. But the company did not say who they belonged to.

The filings of at least one of those individuals, the bank said, are protected by confidentiality provisions in a contract they entered into with Deutsche Bank. The second individual, however, did not have such a provision that would theoretically shield their identity.

"With respect to the second individual, and based on diligent searches the bank has undertaken to date, the bank has identified contracts related to that individual; however, none of those contracts contain a similar confidentiality provision nor has the bank been able to locate a separate confidentiality contract pertaining to this second individual," Deutsche Bank wrote.

Attorneys for Deutsche Bank also wrote in the letter that they haven't been in contact with the Trump family members whose tax returns they have. They asked that, if the Second Circuit decides to force the company to release their names, that they be given advanced notice to make them aware.

Attorneys for Trump, in a separate filing Friday, argued that the Second Circuit should not force Deutsche Bank to reveal whose tax returns it has because the appellate court has never asked for those identities. 

It only asked whether the bank had anyone's filings, they argued, so the identities of those individuals is irrelevant.

"Plaintiffs' interests are more than sufficient to justify the limited redaction of customer information—information that the Court never asked Deutsche Bank to disclose and that has no bearing on the legal decision the Court will make," Trump's attorneys wrote.

The court was, instead, asked whether Deutsche Bank had anyone's tax returns to consider the relevance of a taxpayer-privacy statute, Trump's attorneys wrote. The names attached to those filings wouldn't matter to the court in that instance, they argued.

"It has no bearing on the legal issue that prompted the inquiry. It should not be part of the record in this case," Trump's attorneys wrote.

He was represented on the filing by Patrick Strawbridge, an attorney with Consovoy McCarthy who's representing Trump in multiple tax-related challenges.

The coalition of media outlets, which include major players in the industry like CNN and The Associated Press, filed a motion to intervene in the proceeding earlier this month in which they argued that the public, and subsequently the press, have a constitutional right to know whose tax returns Deutsche Bank has.

They argued that an unredacted version of the filing should be made available because Deutsche Bank had not met its burden of showing why the information should be kept private, and because the filing is of significant interest to the public.

"As Deutsche Bank has not identified a substantial risk to a compelling government interest, it cannot meet its burden to overcome the public's right of access, and the redacted names should be unsealed forthwith," they wrote.

Part of their argument also centered on the decision-making process of the Second Circuit.

An unredacted version of Deutsche Bank's filing from last month has already been filed under seal with the Second Circuit. The media groups argued that, since the unredacted version of the document will presumably be used by the court in its decision, it should be made public.

Trump's attorneys disputed that the actual identities on the document would be considered by the court in its final ruling, and said the interest of keeping those names from the public outweighed a presumption of access.

"There are compelling reasons to keep the information here under seal," Trump's attorneys wrote. "The redactions involve specific and sensitive financial details that are protected by multiple statutes, and that were provided to Deutsche Bank with the expectation of confidentiality."

The motion was brought by the Associated Press, CNN, the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Reuters and Dow Jones & Co., according to the filing.

They're represented by Jacquelyn Schell, an associate with Ballard Spahr in Manhattan. Schell was not immediately available for comment on the filing Friday.

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