Rep. Maxine Waters Maxine Moore WatersPowell, Mnuchin stress limits of current emergency lending programs Pelosi: House will stay in session until agreement is reached on coronavirus relief Omar invokes father's death from coronavirus in reaction to Woodward book MORE (D-Calif.) defended plans from House Democrats to investigate President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE’s personal finances as Republicans warn of steep consequences if they move forward.

Waters is in line to chair the House Financial Services Committee in 2019, giving her oversight of banks and subpoena power to conduct investigations relevant to the panel’s mandate.

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She told The Hill in a phone interview Thursday night that a planned probe of the president’s relationship with Deutsche Bank should be considered “ordinary” oversight work for the panel.

“Deutsche Bank is key to understanding the relationship between the president and members of the president’s family and money laundering and all of that,” Waters said. “We hope that we can move forward in a responsible way.”



Waters has pledged to ramp up Democratic efforts to probe Trump and his family's relationship with Deutsche Bank, which has been penalized by the Justice Department for laundering money from Russia.

Financial Services panel Democrats spent the past two years requesting documents from the Treasury Department and Deutsche Bank that could reveal Trump’s potential ties to Russian nationals.

Treasury and Deutsche Bank have refused to comply with the Democratic requests, but could be forced to hand over Trump’s personal financial records if Waters subpoenas for the documents.

Trump and fellow Republicans, have blasted Waters for eyeing the president’s finances.

Trump said Wednesday that he would not work with Democrats on bipartisan goals like infrastructure funding if they subpoenaed his financial records — including his tax returns — and would ask the GOP-held Senate to investigate the opposition party.

Rep. Patrick McHenry Patrick Timothy McHenryCheney battle raises questions about House GOP's future Hillicon Valley: Democrats request counterintelligence briefing | New pressure for election funding | Republicans urge retaliation against Chinese hackers House Republicans urge Trump to take action against Chinese hackers targeting coronavirus research MORE (R-N.C.), who’s poised to lead Republicans on the Financial Services panel, also warned Waters on Thursday that he’d fight Democratic efforts to use the committee “as the launch pad for endless, partisan investigations.”

Waters countered that the planned probes should be seen as basic committee oversight.

“We don’t want that determined as investigation so that we create the kind of retaliation the president is talking about,” Waters said. “We think it is improper for anybody to be talking about retaliation.”

While Waters will face fierce opposition from Republicans in investigating Trump, she said she’s hopeful for bipartisan collaboration on housing finance reform and a national flood insurance revamp.

Waters will need to cut deals with key Republicans, like McHenry, and her eventual counterpart on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo Michael (Mike) Dean CrapoBottom line Davis: The Hall of Shame for GOP senators who remain silent on Donald Trump Top GOP senator urges agencies to protect renters, banks amid coronavirus aid negotiations MORE (R-Idaho), the current chairman, or Sen. Pat Toomey Patrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyAppeals court rules NSA's bulk phone data collection illegal Dunford withdraws from consideration to chair coronavirus oversight panel GOP senators push for quick, partial reopening of economy MORE (Pa.), who would likely take the Banking gavel if Crapo seeks the Senate Finance Committee chairmanship.

Waters said she has a “very good relationship with Congressman McHenry,” citing their work on a package of three-dozen bipartisan business investment bills.

“I know we won’t agree on everything and I don’t know all that he’s going to propose, but I know one thing: we start out in a good relationship and ability to communicate,” Waters said.

Waters added that it’s unclear how the House and Senate will collaborate on housing finance reform, as it’s a clear bipartisan and bicameral priority.

“We don’t know how we work with the Senate quite yet, but it’s on their minds and it’s on our minds,” Waters said.