The US Treasury’s “debanking” probe found that the largest American banks had denied services to customers based on political considerations, in a boost to conservatives’ campaign against institutions’ perceived biases.
US President Donald Trump ordered the inquiry last year after he accused banks of discriminating against him, and sued JPMorgan Chase and Capital One for closing his accounts.
The report comes one day after the government fined Bank of America $1.2 billion for lax money-laundering oversight, the third-largest penalty in Treasury history.
The Trump administration has similarly targeted universities and media companies: The White House played a central role in the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into major TV networks’ temporary suspension of pooled coverage of the president, Semafor reported Wednesday.
— Brendan Ruberry