Goodlatte, Hensarling, Marino, Luetkemeyer & Issa Ask DOJ to Repudiate Operation Choke Point

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tx.), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino (R-Pa.), Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), and Courts, Intellectual Property & the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen, and Acting Comptroller Keith Noreika regarding Operation Choke Point.

The Obama Administration initiated Operation Choke Point to discourage financial institutions from offering services to businesses that the Administration opposed—including, for example, firearms dealers. This letter requests that the DOJ, Federal Reserve Board, and the Comptroller of the Currency issue formal statements to repudiate Operation Choke Point.

The letter states, in part:

“[W]e request that your respective Departments and agencies issue clear and public formal policy statements repudiating Operation Choke Point and the abuses by financial regulators of the “reputation risk” guidance they developed and promulgated under Operation Choke Point’s auspices. Financial institutions should be given explicit assurance that they may serve these unfairly targeted industries just like any other legitimate businesses. Institutions should also be encouraged to restore long-standing relationships with lawful, targeted industries.”

The full text of today’s letter is available here.