Report: FDIC Senior Officials Acted on Personal Animus against Legal Businesses

Press Release

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today released a new report, "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) Involvement in "Operation Choke Point'," detailing the agency's close relationship with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to effectively target legal businesses the administration deemed morally objectionable. Documents produced to the Committee reveal that the DOJ actively partnered with the FDIC in the prosecution of Operation Choke Point. FDIC's participation in Operation Choke Point included requests for information about the investigation, discussions of legal theories and the application of banking laws, and the review of documents involving FDIC-supervised institutions obtained by DOJ in the course of its investigation. FDIC also originated the list of "high risk" industries included in the DOJ subpoenas. Documents provided to the Committee also show that senior leadership at the FDIC opposed certain industries on purely moral grounds.

The Committee released a report on the preliminary findings of its investigation into the Department of Justice's actions in May of 2014.

"It's appalling that our government is working around the law to vindictively attack businesses they find objectionable," said Chairman Issa. "Internal FDIC documents confirm that Operation Choke Point is an extraordinary abuse of government power. In the most egregious cases, federal bureaucrats injected personal moral judgments into the regulatory process. Such practices are totally inconsistent with basic principles of good government, transparency, and the rule of law."

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