The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the latest chapter in the investigation into Operation Choke Point earlier today, a 20-page document detailing the involvement of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in a program that was described as violating “the most fundamental principles of the rule of law and accountable, transparent government.” Since its launch in 2013, Operation Choke Point has been causing numerous retailers across the country to be denied banking services, including at least five premium cigar retailers since late September. The program was launched in what has been described as an attempt to prevent consumer fraud and to deny banking services to illegal businesses, but speculation has suggested that there may be personal vendettas by senior administration officials against certain types of businesses as well. Among the key findings in the report, it was determined that the FDIC targeted legal industries as part of the operation via “circular agreement” policymaking, as there was no articulated justification or rationale for the original list of high-risk merchants. Additionally, FDIC was found to have used this list of high risk merchants to make sure that banks “got the message” that offering services to a certain group of businesses ...
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