WASHINGTON—Former Fox News anchor and federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, served several financial institutions with sweeping subpoenas this week, looking into whether they have illegally dropped customers for political reasons, such as ideological alignment or chosen profession.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. Pirro's inquiries are ostensibly based on discrimination by banking institutions due to people being politically conservative or working for organizations like conservative Christian religious groups or activities classified as right-wing extremism by civil society.
According to other news reports, subpoenas were served on institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Pirro and her prosecutors are seeking to bring sanctions and charges under the federal Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. This statute was used to punish banks for the 2008 mortgage crisis.
Considering the investigative and legal strategy at work here, this development is noteworthy for those in the adult industry, as debanking and banking discrimination have routinely impacted sex work and adult entertainment.
Adult industry trade organization the Free Speech Coalition has lobbied Congress and the U.S. government for years over equitable banking laws, especially for legal and consensual sex work or work adjacent to these spaces. The coalition has presented a case of common ground with conservative Republican activists who lodge similar claims against banks and the financial industry as it relates to firearm retailers, cash checking, pawn shops, religious organizations and others.
The Free Speech Coalition is also working on establishing an adult industry-only federally chartered credit union to offer a banking solution outside of major banks and to curtail the trend of debanking. Debanking, in itself, has been a controversial and disputed subject. But ample evidence and investigation by news organizations and civil society groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have pressed federal banking regulators and self-regulatory bodies within the financial and payment processing sectors for needed reform.
It is important to note that Pirro's subpoenas could only be issued on behalf of preferred groups and individuals.
The New York Post referenced allegations made by President Donald J. Trump in a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase that a former executive for the bank informed the president and his family members that certain bank accounts would be closed in response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
Pirro, as an attorney, is also outspoken over alleged institutional bias against conservatives and right-wingers on Wall Street.
Nevertheless, banks are required by federal law to provide equitable access to banking products. As AVN previously reported, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found that nine of the largest banks in the United States have restricted financial services to some clients in controversial industries. OCC is under the Treasury Department.
President Trump issued an executive order early in his administration for the OCC to investigate debanking allegations. The OCC released preliminary findings from this research, noting that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank engaged in debanking.
