Capital One Says Trump Account Closures Were an Anti-Money-Laundering Call

Capital One has asked a federal court in Florida to dismiss the Trump Organization's lawsuit over closed accounts, arguing that the decision came out of an anti-money-laundering review rather than political retaliation for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

In a motion filed Friday, the bank's attorneys said the closures followed a monthslong examination by its financial-crimes unit, which the filing describes as staffed by employees with decades of law-enforcement experience. The bank casts the move as a compliance decision, not a political gesture.

At issue are roughly 385 accounts tied to the Trump Organization, Eric Trump and affiliated companies — among them a winery, a bottled-water business and a golf course developer — that had banked with Capital One for more than a decade before being closed in mid-2021. The Trump entities sued, saying the shutdowns were meant to distance the bank from the former president after the Capitol attack.

Capital One calls that theory "cherry-picked" and says its records do not support the claim that the anti-money-laundering explanation was invented. The bank notes it never publicized the decision and gave the companies months, and several extensions, to move their funds.

The contract question

The filing returns to the defense that worked the first time: account agreements that let the bank end a relationship "at any time, for any or no reason and without notice." That language led U.S. District Judge Roy Altman to dismiss an earlier version of the suit in March. Capital One now wants the amended complaint dismissed permanently, with no further chance to refile.

The bank is also contesting a newly added fraud claim, which argues it defrauded the plaintiffs by staying silent about its motives. Capital One says it had no contractual duty to explain, and that federal banking secrecy law would likely have barred it from disclosing internal findings in any case.

That same secrecy law sits at the center of a parallel fight over sealed exhibits. The bank wants portions kept under seal to protect employee names, customer account numbers and unrelated compensation details. The Trump companies do not oppose sealing the account numbers, but contest other redactions. Large sections of their amended complaint remain blacked out, including one headed "January 6, 2021: The Political Trigger."

The Capital One case is one of several arising from account closures in that period; a separate complaint filed in January makes similar allegations against JPMorgan Chase. Last August the president issued an executive order directing regulators to address what he describes as politically motivated debanking.