Original (German) reporter of the Deutsche Bank subpoena responds to the ensuing furor

For months, observers have been expecting FBI special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia, to subpoena Deutsche Bank for documents relating to the US president or his inner circle. On Tuesday, Handelsblatt reported the subpoena had in fact been issued weeks ago.

That exclusive report prompted a denial from Mr. Trump’s personal attorney John Dowd. “We have confirmed that the news reports that the special counsel had subpoenaed financial records relating to the president are false. No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources,” he wrote in an email.

[...]

Mr. Trump’s wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, are all clients of Deutsche Bank’s wealth management arm. According to our information, the subpoena from Mr. Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections, is in connection with Mr. Trump’s camp, requiring the bank to provide information on financial transactions and loans. It remains unclear whether the subpoena relates to the US president personally or a family member. Given that qualification, we are standing by our reporting.

[...]

Neither Mr. Mueller’s spokesperson nor Deutsche Bank would comment on the report. The bank said in a statement that it cooperates with all investigations and wouldn’t reveal details of individual cases. The fact that Deutsche Bank is keeping quiet about the subpoena is not unusual.

  Handelsblatt

We know John Dowd by now.

To be clear, we never wrote that Mr. Mueller had definitely subpoenaed financial records relating to the president. To quote our own story: “It remains unclear whether Mr. Mueller requested information on President Trump’s own business dealings with Deutsche Bank or on those of people close to him.”

[...]

From our end, Handelsblatt can confirm that Deutsche Bank has been subpoenaed. But exactly what kind of information the bank might have on Mr. Trump or his family, like so many aspects of Mr. Mueller’s ongoing investigation, remains unclear.

So, we don't know for certain if Trump's records were subpoenaed, but I'll be they have been. And, if not, they will be.

We're going to make ourselves crazy.  One reason no one trusts the media any more is because of the rush to print things that haven't been sufficiently vetted.  And one of the reasons they do that is to scoop each other.  Another reason is that internet investigators are working round the clock to also get scoops, and if they don't have journalistic standards (which, admittedly are going downhill by the day), they will print things they can't necessarily back up without admitting they don't have good sources. 

At any rate, we often have to check on every story the next day or two to make sure it's still holding.  Sometimes, If I feel suspicious about a story, I won't even quote it until a few days have passed and it's still holding.  But, sometimes I take the word of a mainstream news report that is quoting another original source as one that has been properly vetted.  I should know better by now. 

Maybe Trump's personal records were supoenaed.  Maybe not.  But some records surrounding Trump's nefarious banking and real estate deals were.  And that's going to inform Mueller's next moves.  He'll get there eventually.  Waiting is the hard part.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.