OPINION:
Among the most pernicious developments in recent years is the abuse of the financial system to punish disfavored religious and political views. Using vague claims of “reputational risk” as a pretext, major banks began experimenting with blacklisting conservatives.
The payment processor PayPal was enthusiastic about implementing this form of censorship. People who questioned the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine had funds deducted from their accounts as a “fine” for spreading “disinformation.” Protesters who accepted an unauthorized tour of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were canceled. Even a few left-wing, anti-war journalists were cut off for daring to doubt the wisdom of the war in Ukraine.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was shut out at the behest of President Obama, suggesting many of the terminations were directed by Democratic administrations against their political opponents, including Donald Trump.
Going after him was a mistake. The president cited an incident with J.P. Morgan Chase as evidence of the need to crack down on debanking with an executive order last week.
“I’ll give you me as an example,” Mr. Trump said on CNBC. “I had hundreds of millions, many accounts loaded up with cash, and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, I’ve been with you 35, 40 years.’”
While they were dumping a former president of the United States, the same financial giants were flagging suspicious activity involving the many accounts managed by President Biden’s family. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee collected a series of these routine reports to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and developed a road map of the shell companies that the Biden clan used in what committee Chairman James Comer called a foreign money-laundering operation.
“Biden family members sold access for profit around the world to the detriment of American interests,” the Kentucky Republican said.
Hunter Biden’s dubious accounts were never suppressed despite his questionable money-management skills and admission that he committed felony tax fraud. Banks played favorites, overlooking the defaults of ideological allies while rejecting the valid credit of anyone deemed troublesome by power-wielding Democrats.
Mr. Trump’s executive order ends this practice. It instructs federal regulators to adopt rules to “remove the use of reputation risk or equivalent concepts that could result in politicized or unlawful debanking.” Uncle Sam will allow only “apolitical risk-based assessment” to judge a customer’s worthiness.
Within 120 days, the victims whose accounts were seized must be identified and made whole.
Twenty-four states have enlisted in the cause, issuing statements commending the administration for taking “a crucial step toward restoring viewpoint neutrality and putting an end to unlawful discrimination in our financial sector.”
Debanking is a sinister means of enforcing conformity of thought and behavior under threat of being banned from securing home and car loans or buying things online. As the global elite push us further toward becoming a cashless society, this sanction carries even more of a sting.
Ultimately, Congress alone has the authority to prohibit future administrations from working behind the scenes to strong-arm private firms into cooperating with requests to penalize political enemies, contrary to the demands of the First Amendment.
In February, Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican, introduced legislation preventing banks from canceling any law-abiding account holder for anything other than impartial, risk-based standards.
The Senate needs to consider this bill.
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