Weren’t we assured that Barack Obama went “into and out of office with not a whiff of scandal”? Yes we were. Former Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen told us so, as did many others.
But it wasn’t true. There are many, the most recent a claim that Obama, and then Joe Biden, pressured bank executives to deny services to conservatives. It’s a serious charge that, like the Russia hoax, makes Watergate look like a sandbox squabble.
Here’s what we’ve learned: According to Fox Business, major bank executives said “they were under pressure by the Obama and Biden administrations to deny services to individuals and businesses for political reasons.”
One executive said the “pressures were very, very real. When your regulator gives you a suggestion, it’s not a suggestion, it’s an order. The political stuff is very real, those pressures are real.”
This is known as “political debanking” and is “the involuntary termination of banking services to individuals and organizations based on their political or religious views,” says Todd J. Zywicki, a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, who further “argues that access to financial services is a prerequisite for exercising constitutional rights.”
Zywicki’s March paper “traces the rise of political debanking from the Obama administration’s Operation Choke Point, which targeted disfavored industries under the guise of ‘reputation risk.’” It was expanded under Biden administration, during which “Melania Trump and Michael Flynn faced account closures for their political stances.”
Other “high-profile cases” included “the cancellation of accounts tied to Donald Trump Jr.’s events and the National Committee for Religious Freedom,” and “illustrate a growing weaponization of the financial system to suppress dissent.”
Operation Choke Point was a creation of the Obama Justice Department. Its mission was “to ‘choke out’ companies the administration considers a ‘high risk’ or otherwise objectionable, despite the fact that they are legal businesses,” says a House Oversight Committee report. “The goal of the initiative is to deny these merchants access to the banking and payments networks that every business needs to survive.”
The whistleblowers told Fox that “ambiguity in federal laws was exploited by regulators under the Obama and Biden administrations in order to pursue political objectives. According to one executive, banks were pressured to deny services to certain industries as part of Operation Choke Point and Operation Choke Point 2.0,” which was “carried out by the prudential regulators to target and debank the digital asset ecosystem” during the Biden years.
President Donald Trump has responded with an executive order to guarantee “fair banking to all Americans,” to which the media responded with dismissive retorts such there have been only 35 complaints of debanking due to politics and religion filed with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – as if it’s acceptable if it happens to only a few – it’s merely Trump’s reaction to a “personal gripe” and it might cause administrative headaches in the industry.
This is a clear sign the press will ignore the debanking scandal when it’s not busy denying its existence, just as it has done with Russiagate, which implicates Obama as a primary agent in the dirtiest political trick in our nation’s history if not a party to a “treasonous conspiracy.” Funny thing, Democrats tend to get away with gross misconduct because the media aren’t interested in demanding accountability from their heroes.
Issues & Insights was founded by seasoned journalists of the IBD Editorials page. Our mission is to provide timely, fact-based reporting and deeply informed analysis on the news of the day – without fear or favor.
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TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Ukraine Admits Russia Has Entered Key Region Of Dnipropetrovsk - BBC
Ukrainian forces have admitted that Russia's military have crossed into the eastern industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk and are trying to establish a foothold.
"This is the first attack of such a large scale in Dnipropetrovsk region," Viktor Trehubov, of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group of Troops told the BBC, although he made clear their advance had been stopped.
2. Ukraine Allows Men Aged 18-22 To Travel Abroad - Anadolu Agency
Ukraine on Tuesday revised travel rules for its citizens, allowing men aged 18 to 22 to cross the country’s border.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on Telegram that the decision to update the provisions on crossing the country's border was adopted by the government, as a result of which those concerned will be able to travel abroad amid Ukraine’s ongoing martial law.
“This decision also applies to citizens who, for various reasons, find themselves abroad. We want Ukrainians to maintain maximum ties with Ukraine,” Svyrydenko further said.
3. Russia to Quit Europe’s Anti-Torture Convention – The Moscow Times
Russia will formally withdraw from Europe’s convention for the prevention of torture, a move some rights advocates say is largely symbolic given the country’s already worsening human rights record.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on Saturday proposing that President Vladimir Putin submit the withdrawal to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament. The decree was first made public on Monday evening.
4. Nationwide Protests As Israeli Families Demand Release Of Hostages - UPI
Families of Israeli hostages and their supporters staged protests across the country Tuesday, blocking major roads and setting tire bonfires, demanding the government end the war in Gaza and agree a deal to bring their loved ones home.
The day of action organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum brought rush-hour traffic to a standstill on multiple highways and intersections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – where the main Ayalon thruway was closed for the second time in a week – and the main coastal highway linking Tel Aviv with the port city of Haifa.
5. Trump Claims Gaza War To Reach ‘Conclusive Ending’ In Two To Three Weeks – The Times Of Israel
US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that the Gaza war will reach a “conclusive ending” in the next two or three weeks, saying that there was a serious “diplomatic push” underway to end the nearly two-year conflict.
What Trump based his prediction on was unclear, given that Israel has indicated it is not interested in the phased ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to last week. Rather, the Israeli government has instead been moving ahead with plans to conquer Gaza City, which is expected to take at least several months.
6. French PM Fights For Survival As Rivals Refuse To Support Confidence Vote - BBC
French Prime Minister François Bayrou has said parliament has 13 days to choose between chaos or responsibility, after calling a vote of confidence on plans for deep budget cuts.
Bayrou, who has led a minority government since last December, said in an interview he would "fight like a dog" to win the 8 September vote. "Yes, it's risky, but it's even riskier not to do anything," he said, in the face of France's mounting budget deficit.
7. Exclusive-Trump Administration Weighs Sanctions On Officials Implementing EU Tech Law, Sources Say - Reuters
President Donald Trump's administration is considering imposing sanctions on European Union or member state officials responsible for implementing the bloc's landmark Digital Services Act, two sources familiar with the matter said, over U.S. complaints that the law censors Americans and imposes costs on U.S. tech companies.
Such a move would be an unprecedented action that would escalate the Trump administration's fight against what it sees as Europe's attempt to suppress conservative voices.
8. German Chancellor Merz: ‘Welfare state can no longer be financed’ - Brussels Signal
German Chancellor Friederich Merz has warned that his country’s economy is no longer capable of financing its welfare state.
Merz made his stark warning at his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party’s conference in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony on August 23.
He declared that Germany’s welfare state was no longer financially sustainable, highlighting the mounting economic pressures threatening the country’s extensive social support system. He signalled the need for urgent reforms.
9. Beijing Tests Trump's America In South China Sea - Newsweek
China has ramped up its maritime presence in the South China Sea near its rival the Philippines after a collision between two Chinese government ships earlier this month left a China coast guard vessel seriously damaged and Beijing seriously embarrassed.
Beijing's show of force in the contested waters is a face-saving exercise, analysts tell Newsweek, one that could test Washington's longstanding commitment to Manila's security under their Mutual Defense Treaty, among the oldest in the region.
10. Venezuela Sends Troops To Colombia Border As US Ships Join Cartel Operation – Al Jazeera
Venezuela has announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking, as the United States was reported to have sent two additional navy ships to the southern Caribbean as part of an operation against Latin American drug cartels.
Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello announced on Monday that Caracas would deploy 15,000 troops to bolster security in Zulia and Tachira states, which border Colombia.
“Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts,” the minister said, while also announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year.
11. Australia Accuses Iran Of Directing Antisemitic Attacks On Cafe And Synagogue - BBC
Australia has given Iran's ambassador seven days to leave the country after alleging the country's government directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Intelligence services linked Iran to an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October last year, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a press conference on Tuesday.
Albanese added the two incidents were "attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community".
12. Mortgage Rates Back In Line With Long-Term Lows – Mortgage News Daily
Mortgage rates tend to move at least a little every day although they haven't been moving too much in the bigger picture recently.
This week's movements could be classified as incidental, random drift. Such a trend is a logical interlude separating the news and events that actually matter to the big picture rate trend.
13. Why Gasoline Prices Are Falling – oilprice.com
The recent decline in gasoline prices is primarily attributed to surging global oil supply, softer-than-expected demand, and swelling oil inventories, rather than the pro-energy policies of any single U.S. president.
Historical data shows that major shifts in U.S. oil production, including significant expansions, have been driven more by technological advancements like fracking and global market forces such as OPEC+ decisions and price wars, rather than presidential actions.
14. Eli Lilly’s Weight Loss Pill Orforglipron Clears Its Latest Trial, Paving Way For Approval - CNBC
Eli Lilly on Tuesday said its daily obesity pill succeeded in another late-stage trial, helping patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower their blood sugar levels.
The company now has the full clinical trial data required to start filing for approvals of the drug for chronic weight management with global regulators.
The rate of side effects and treatment discontinuations in the study, called ATTAIN-2, appeared to be generally consistent with two recent phase three trials on the pill, called orforglipron.
15. Mediterranean Diet May Reduce Genetic Risk Of Alzheimer's, Study Says – Health News
The study, published Monday in Nature Medicine, found those with the highest genetic risk for Alzheimer's benefited most from consuming a Mediterranean diet.
"These findings suggest that dietary strategies, specifically the Mediterranean diet, could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and stave off dementia by broadly influencing key metabolic pathways," said researcher Yuxi Liu, PhD of Mass General Brigham, which ran the study along with researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of MIT.
