Operation Choke Point is a federal law enforcement branch of the Department of Justice founded in 2013. They are accused of targeting legal businesses according to President Obama’s ideological agenda.
If the allegations are true, it is the epitome of government overreach. This law enforcement branch is now under scrutiny in a congressional investigation. Americans can only hope that emails do not need to be retrieved.
The consensus is that banks and lenders have been pressured into not granting loans to legitimate businesses that are considered morally objectionable. The federal government determines what “moral” means.
Republicans are salivating at the thought of another Obama scandal, but this one may have legs. The businesses that are targeted are vastly firearm companies and banks, but also payday lenders and check cashing establishments, gambling entities, and tobacco vendors.
Brennan Appel claims to be a victim of this practice. He stated that the lender he had depended on for over a dozen years suddenly cut him off. Appel owns a firearm distribution company and his bank closed all his business and personal accounts with no explanation.
Just weeks later his payment processing provider ended their relationship with him. Is this a covert form of gun control or a justifiable practice? When asked about Operation Choke Point Appel stated,
“With no explanation as to what you did wrong, you can only make assumptions. I’m running a legal business. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m following the laws so why are my accounts being closed like this for absolutely, in my opinion, no reason?”
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concluded that Operation Choke Point has abused their statutory authority. They attempted to shut down all payday lending companies. They were also found culpable of indiscriminately terminating bank relationships with legal businesses.
The government claims that they are trying to fight money laundering by using these tactics. What they are actually doing is forcing companies to work with a cash-only structure.
Illegal shenanigans are much easier to conceal on a cash basis than if their monetary exchanges were on the books. This unscrupulous practice is also making it difficult to conduct business as usual.
While marijuana remains illegal, pot shops are popping up in several states and they are not vetted. President Obama is a gun control enthusiast, but he has failed to get any bill passed through congress. The question becomes, has he found a surreptitious avenue to achieve gun control on his own?
