A US federal investigator probing Russia’s alleged meddling in 2016 presidential vote has reportedly called on Germany's Deutsche Bank to provide financial accounts of President Donald Trump.
According to reports on Tuesday, the German bank was ordered to provide documents on its business dealings with the US president as part of an investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Moscow.
The federal investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Germany's largest bank had received a subpoena from special prosecutor Robert Mueller several weeks ago to provide information on certain money and credit transactions.
The revelation came shortly after White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, denied reports that Mueller had requested financial information from Deutsche Bank.
"We have confirmed that the news reports that the special counsel had subpoenaed financial records relating to the president are false," Sekulow said in a statement.
"No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources," he added.
Trump has on several occasions expressed support for improving relations with the US’ former Cold War foe since he started running for president.
According to public documents, Deutsche Bank has lent more than 300 million dollars to entities affiliated with Trump’s real estate empire. Trump is currently under fire for possible links between his 2016 presidential campaign and Moscow.
Back in January, American intelligence agencies claimed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to try to help Trump, the current president of the United States, defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. They alleged at the time that Moscow’s interference included a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit Clinton’s campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed by the US Justice Department, is tasked with investigating Russia’s alleged meddling in the election.
Trump, for his part, has long denied any collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives during last year’s White House race, which led to his rival Hillary Clinton’s loss.