Capital One bank filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Trump Organization over the closure of approximately 385 bank accounts in mid-2021. The bank contends that the account closures resulted from a thorough anti-money-laundering compliance review conducted by its financial-crimes team rather than political retaliation related to the Capitol riot, as Trump-affiliated entities have alleged.
In court papers submitted in a Florida federal court, Capital One’s legal representatives emphasized that the bank’s own documentation and the Trump Organization’s allegations both demonstrate that account terminations stemmed from anti-money-laundering considerations. The bank stated that its decision followed months of analysis by employees with extensive law enforcement backgrounds. However, the filings indicate that the Trump Organization and its affiliated entities were not afforded an opportunity to respond to or address any money-laundering or compliance concerns prior to account closure.
The Trump Organization has disputed Capital One’s explanation, arguing in an amended complaint filed earlier in July that the bank sought to distance itself from Donald Trump following January events and subsequently invented the anti-money-laundering rationale as a post-hoc justification. Large portions of the Trump-linked complaint remain redacted under court order, including a section titled regarding January 6. Capital One’s attorneys responded by characterizing the Trump Organization’s position as relying on “cherry-picked quotations” lacking proper context from bank records.
Capital One emphasized that it retained the contractual right to close accounts without notice or explanation and maintained confidentiality regarding its reasoning at the time of closure. The bank also maintained that federal banking-secrecy law would have prohibited disclosure of internal anti-money-laundering findings. A federal judge previously dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March on similar grounds. Capital One is now requesting permanent dismissal of the amended complaint without opportunity for further revision. The case represents one of several lawsuits filed by Trump-aligned entities against major financial institutions since Trump’s return to office.
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