Democrats Seek to Restrain Maxine Waters’ Trump Investigation, Fearing Backlash

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a long-time, vocal opponent of Trump, has been calling for the impeachment of POTUS from the very moment was elected. Now, after two years of impeachment calls, the congresswoman has switched to pushing for an investigation into the Trump Organization's finances, but her own Democratic Party colleagues are not quite as enthusiastic about the idea, according to Politico.

According to Waters, the Trump Organization has hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Deutsche Bank. The problem is, Deutsche Bank has been embroiled in a money laundering scandal. In 2017, the bank was fined hundreds of millions of dollars over allegations that it took part in a scheme that allowed some $10 billion to be moved from Russia to offshore destinations.

Apparently, "Russia" and "money laundering" are enough for Waters, who is the incoming chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, to conclude that the Trump Organization has to be entangled in something hideous and must be investigated. However, other Democrats on the committee see this as a politically dangerous move.

"The American people will understand thoughtful, well-grounded investigations," Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said, according to Politico. "But they will bridle at investigations that seem overtly political."

"There are enough questions around Deutsche Bank that it's worth getting some answers," he added. "But again, I think we're going to need to make sure that we don't get too carried away on investigations."

He mentioned that the Republicans organized a failed push for impeachment of then US President Bill Clinton in 1998 over the Monica Lewinsky scandal — a push that was massively unpopular among US citizens, according to the polls, and in the end backfired on the Republicans, as Dems gained 5 seats in the House during the midterms (a historic event, since no ruling party managed to gain seats during second midterms since 1822, according to NBC).

The moderate lawmakers believe an investigation, such as the one proposed by Waters, will pull the party too far to the left and become a distraction.

"There's a good opportunity for more access to credit and housing reforms," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). "Oversight's important, but I just think we've got a broader responsibility."

However, moderate Democrats' rhetoric talk may be motivated by a more palpable interest. Some Democrats benefit from major financial players and don't want to scare Wall Street with investigations, Politico reported. They are likely to join the resistance against Waters.

"Some committee Democrats such as Gottheimer have received significant backing from the financial industry and have been more willing to support policies that would benefit the largest banks," Politico reported.

Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of the nonprofit Better Markets, which advocates for tougher regulation on Wall Street, said that while the Deutsche Bank scandal is worth an investigation, US citizens simply don't care whether Trump got a loan from the bank "20 years ago."

"The American people are sick and tired of politics," he said. "What the Democrats have to do is have a robust policy agenda that concretely resonates with Main Street Americans, who care about their jobs and their wages and their retirements."

Financial watchdog institutions are also hoping Waters will deal with ongoing issues, such as pushing for better customer protections and looking into how the current administration's wrongdoing, should it occur, may hurt American people.

The pushback has not gone unnoticed by Waters herself. She has already spoken out to reassure the committee members that her investigations will not "bog down the committee." Speaking to her fellow lawmakers in recent days, Waters has vowed to tackle housing and credit reporting reform, as well as support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.