Trump administration reduces pressure on online gambling
News on 20 Aug 2017
News on 20 Aug 2017
There’s a little less pressure on online gambling in the United States following a decision by the Trump administration to halt Operation Chokepoint, a 2013 initiative launched by the Obama administration and designed to deter banks from conducting business with companies engaged in commerce that the administration at that time viewed as undesirable.
The initiative characterised certain types of businesses as being “associated with high-risk activity” in a banking guidance document used by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Some of the types of businesses targeted by the operation included online gambling or ponzi schemes, but the list also targeted lawful enterprises such as tobacco sales, coin dealers and ammunition or firearm sales, according to US reports.
The decision to halt Operation Chokepoint with immediate effect was advised in a letter this week to U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte from Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd.
It assured the chairman that the operation has been terminated and will not be undertaken again, describing Operation Chokepoint as a “misguided initiative conducted during the last administration.”
The communication also made clear that the new administration intends to re-establish the integrity of the Justice Department, noting:
“The Department is committed to bringing enforcement actions only where warranted by the facts and the applicable law without regard to political preferences. We reiterate that the Department will not discourage the provision of financial services to lawful industries.”
Operation Chokepoint proved to be politically controversial, raising resistance and criticism in Congress, where in 2014 the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigated the operation and issued a scathing report.
In 2016, the U.S. House passed H.R. 766, the ‘‘Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015,” which sought to eliminate Operation Chokepoint. Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee introduced companion legislation in the Senate, declaring Operation Chokepoint an attack on Second Amendment rights, but the measure failed to progress.
