A bizarre account of a whistle-blower’s efforts to spread a trove of internal information about Deutsche Bank has revealed that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has obtained the information.
Val Broeksmit, a musician spent years trying to distribute information from inside the German bank after his father, a top executive there, hanged himself in London.
His efforts brought him in contact with journalists and investigators – and eventually put him in contact with the California congressman, who President Trump has said should be arrested for treason and mocks with the online moniker ‘Liddle.’
As outlined in an deep dive New York Times article, Broeksmit uncovered the information after obtaining an email login following his father William Broeksmit’s suicide in London 2014.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., obtained information after his committee subpoenaed a whistle-blower, according to a new book
Val Broeksmit eventually shopped it to journalists, the Federal Reserve, and the FBI. Another key contact happened when he met musician Moby at a dinner party in L.A., where he was trying to gin up interest in his saga earlier this year.
Moby arranged an introduction to the California lawmaker who is currently overseeing key hearings that are part of an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump over his Ukraine dealings.
Broeksmit, 43, who is described as suffering from drug addiction and is described in the article vaping and doing opiates, as well as seeking to get to get compensation for the material by being made a consultant to the committee.
Schiff’s investigators wanted the information, but rejected that path.
One of his top investigators, Daniel Goldman, tried to entice Broeksmit into turning over the material by stressing the impact it might have.
Val Broeksmit, a musician spent years trying to distribute information from inside Deutsche Bank
‘Imagine a scenario where some of the material that you have can actually provide the seed that we can then use to blow open everything that [Trump] has been hiding,’ he said in a recorded phone call, according to author David Enrich, who developed a long-term source relationship with Broeksmit.
‘In some respects, you — and your father vicariously through you — will go down in American history as a hero and as the person who really broke open an incredibly corrupt president and administration,’ Goldman reportedly told him.
Broeksmit held firm – but Schiff’s committee subpoenaed the documents anyway, according to the account. The information is contained in David Enrich’s new book about the bank and Donald Trump, ‘Dark Towers.’
Schiff isn’t the only official to get hold of the materials.
Broeksmit spent years trying to transmit bank information to the media and investigators
The home of William Broeksmit (C) is seen in south Kensington in west London January 28, 2014. William Broeksmit, a former senior manager at Deutsche Bank with close ties to co-Chief Executive Anshu Jain, was been found dead at his home in London in what appears to have been a suicide
Val Broeksmit tweeted about a drop in Deutsche Bank stock
According to the winding account of Broeksmit’s quest, he also spoke to the FBI at its Los Angeles field office about what he uncovered. He said it showed ‘fraud and dirt.’ His father, in a suicide note that was held back from the public and that his father had emailed to the then-CEO, spoke of a ‘betrayal’ of trust and the ‘damage’ he believe he had done. The younger Brokesmit later learned about bank traders’ efforts to manipulate a key interest rate.
The embattled German lender has long come under scrutiny as the primary lender for Donald Trump, even as other institutions backed away following his bankruptcies.
The House Intelligence and Banking committees subpoenaed the bank in April to obtain financial information about Trump, his business, and family members. The bank revealed in a court filing last week it has tax returns in its possession related to two individuals mentioned in the subpoena.
It is not known if Schiff’s requests for information have been guided by materials he obtained from Broeksmit. A committee aide did not immediately return a request for comment or confirmation.
Trump has been railing against Schiff for days. He tweeted that: ‘I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason.’
Other parts of the story describe Broeksmit’s efforts to get out what he believes will be an explosive story – in between drug hits. He is described as meeting a former federal prosecutor after snorting heroin; selling information to Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson; and sharing information with a Financial Times journalist after snorting OxyContin.