VOA常速英语:特朗普与德国银行的牵连可能引发严重问题

Their stately properties with prime addresses, golf resorts, skyscrapers all carry high mortgages for president-elect Donald Trump.These three properties are of particular concern to experts because of the bank that holds the loan—364,000,000 dollars from Germany’s Deutsche Bank.Former White House ethics attorney Richard Painter:

“I am concerned about the President who’s indebted to anyone, particularly foreign bank.”

This 2014 loan agreement for Trump Tower in Chicago lists a 69,000,000-dollar mortgage from Deutsche Bank.

For Trump’s Miami golf course and resort, VOA found 2 public records totaling 125,000,000 dollars and loans from Deutsche Bank. And records show the new Trump Hotel, DC, just blocks from the White House has a debt of 170,000,000 dollars to the bank.

“The question is whether the President should be indebted to large banks while he is supervising the people who are going to work out our posture toward bank regulation and also enforcement at the rules we already have—including the pending actions against Deutsche Bank.”

One pending action is a US Department of Justice investigation into Deutsche Bank’s improper selling of mortgage securities before the 2008 financial crisis.The Justice Department is proposing a 14 billion-dollar settlement. Painter says it would be awkward if the case isn’t settled by Inauguration Day and is left to senior officials appointed by President Trump.

Jan Baran, an expert on political law, say the conflict could be avoided if managed properly.

“Cases over the Department of Justice are handled by career professional prosecutors and attorneys who work at the proper justice no matter who the president is. And there is no reason for any president to be involved in the matter.”

British and German officials along with the US are also investigating Deutsche Bank.Regulators are examining how the Bank’s clients move billions of dollars out of Russia and into England through questionable stock transactions.

Deutsche Bank and the Justice Department decline comment.But a source in England confirmed the investigation is ongoing.In a series of tweets on Monday, Donald Trump delayed his announcement on how he would deal with the conflicts. He indicated he will leave his business before Inauguration Day for his sons, Donald and Eric Trump, to manage.He says “no new deals will be done” during his presidency.

Financial experts tell VOA total divestiture is nearly impossible.And it is also unclear how Donald Trump might insulate himself from US government actions involving Deutsche Bank.The Trump transition team declined to answer VOA’s questions.