Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has issued a subpoena for financial records from Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, and Trump and his lawyers have now responded with a lawsuit.
With a goal of squashing the subpoena, Trump's lawyers are accusing Cummings of exercising oversight.
From the Associated Press:
“Instead of working with the President to pass bipartisan legislation that would actually benefit Americans, House Democrats are singularly obsessed with finding something they can use to damage the President politically,” the lawsuit states. [...]
The complaint also says the subpoena seeks to investigate events that occurred before Trump was president and “has no legitimate legislative purpose.” It says, “Democrats are using their new control of congressional committees to investigate every aspect of President Trump’s personal finances, businesses, and even his family.”
Trump's lawyers say the subpoena has "has no legitimate legislative purpose," but their lawsuit against the chairman does not appear to have a legal basis.
In this lawsuit, they argue that Cummings' subpoena is based on the "unreliable" testimony of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen whose appearance in front of the Oversight Committee was nothing more than a "partisan stunt."
Now, there may be a federal judge out there who personally agrees with that sentiment, but that's not much of a legal opinion. I believe this lawsuit has little chance of succeeding, but it could draw the process out long enough for Trump to leave office before his records are exposed.
It occurs to me that if President Obama had filed a lawsuit against former Oversight Committee chairmen Trey Gowdy, Darrell Issa, or Jason Chaffetz, Republicans would have had a conniption.