Okay, brace yourselves, because I am about to level some freaky shit that the US government is doing to its own citizens that not enough people know about.
It’s called Operation Chokepoint.
Long story short: since 2013, the US government has been making it a habit to clandestinely pressure banks to close down accounts for businesses and people it doesn’t like.
Its stated goal is to cut down on fraud by shutting down businesses in industries the government considers ‘high-risk.’ But here’s the deal: it does this outside the law, by using extra-judicial back channels—namely, coercing banks to refuse services to business the government decides are shady.
Literally, government officials identify businesses they don’t like, find out which bank they’ve got their accounts at, and then pay the bank a visit and tell them, “Close this down or we’ll do an unplanned audit of your entire bank.” (That’s a quote, by the way.)
If you are looking at that article I just linked to and thinking, “Well, but pornography, good riddance,” then think what it means that government representatives have this kind of judicially-unsupervised access and control over the funds of individuals and organizations. What about journalistic organizations, or non-profits or churches that are opposing a government policy they don’t like?
And the thing is that a lot of these businesses are not in fact illegal. Industries deemed ‘high risk’ range from pornography, ponzi schemes, selling racist materials, and loan sharking to firearms dealers, collectible coin dealers, surveillance equipment, and tobacco sales—and while there’s a lot of questionable activity to be found in those industries, a lot of those businesses—including ones that are being targeted—are also perfectly legal.
(I personally am also wondering how far ‘pornography’ extends, because I know of some artists who have been refused banking services because some of the art they sell is explicit. Is that the policy of the bank in question? Or pressure from the government? The whole point of this operation is that it’s hiding behind that very question, because if somebody took it to court it would be merely the bank’s word against the government’s that an official paid them a visit and threatened to disrupt their regularly scheduled operations.)
The Oh Hell No part of all this is that there is no legal review or oversight. It’s not based on evidence of wrong-doing or illegality; it’s based the ability for the business’s products and services to be co-opted for criminal use (like buying a gun, or coin dealing which is sometimes used by criminals for money laundering), or possibly even on some faceless official’s personal conviction that what the organization does is wrong even if it is legal. And if you happen to agree with the current administration’s opinions on right and wrong, then give some thought to what happens the next time we get a Republican president into office.
Sources:
Washington Post, “Operation Choke Point”
Las Vegas Review-Journal, “EDITORIAL: Shut down Operation Choke Point”
Detroit News, “Operation Choke Point an abuse of power”
BizzyBlog, “Establishment Press has virtually ignored Operation Choke Point for over a year”
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