When Cummings and other Democrats asked last year for records detailing Trump’s separation from his businesses, they received an eight-page glossy pamphlet and a single email. When they asked how the Trump Organization arrived at the $151,470 in profits it paid back to the Treasury for foreign stays at his hotels, they got silence.

Now with Democrats in control of the House, if Trump’s companies or other interests ignore their subpoenas or try legal maneuvers to delay or spurn them, they could face a contempt citation to the House floor. Such citations could be taken to federal court for possible legal action.

Any records Democrats manage to shake out could potentially have an impact on federal lawsuits Democrats are already pursuing against the president.

For example, Cummings and other Democratic lawmakers last year filed a federal lawsuit demanding disclosures of records to determine how Trump was approved by the General Services Administration to maintain the lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington after he became president.