"If the special counsel hasn't subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can't be doing much of a money-laundering investigation," Rep. Adam Schiff said. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Congress Schiff questions Mueller’s approach on Deutsche Bank

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday raised doubts about the extent to which special counsel Robert Mueller has probed President Donald Trump's dealings with Deutsche Bank, bolstering Democrats' case for moving ahead with an investigation into the German lender.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," the California Democrat cited reporting that Trump had once sought to fire Mueller over reports that investigators had subpoenaed Deutsche Bank — crossing a "red line" into his family's finances — but that the president backed down after being told the claims were inaccurate.


"If the special counsel hasn't subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can't be doing much of a money laundering investigation," Schiff said.

"So, that's what concerns me — that that red line has been enforced, whether by the deputy attorney general or by some other party at the Justice Department. But that leaves the country exposed."

Schiff and House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) — both prominent Trump foes — are launching a joint investigation into Deutsche Bank and its transactions with The Trump Organization.

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Schiff, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, has said Deutsche Bank is a starting point as he looks into possible money laundering involving Trump's businesses. Schiff is also looking at Trump's ties to Russia, Saudi Arabia and other foreign powers.

"If we had waited to do any of our investigative work for the Mueller investigation, we would have been waiting a year and a half," Schiff said. "We have a separate and independent and important responsibility, and that is to tell the country what happened."