DOJ Subpoenas JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Over Alleged Political Debanking
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo as part of a probe into whether the banks unlawfully terminated customer accounts for political reasons. The Wall Street Journal reported the story Wednesday, and it was confirmed across multiple outlets by end of day.
WHO IS RUNNING THE PROBE AND WHAT THEY WANT
The subpoenas were issued by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, led by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Prosecutors are seeking two things from each bank: lists of customers whose accounts were closed, and the banks' explanations for each closure. Some subpoenas date back to last year, suggesting the inquiry has been building methodically rather than emerging as a sudden political response.
Prosecutors are examining whether the terminations violated the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, a statute traditionally used in bank fraud cases. Pirro's office opened the investigation independently; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had not sent referrals to the DOJ before prosecutors pursued it.
THE OPERATION CHOKEPOINT 2.0 CONNECTION
For the crypto industry, this probe directly validates what advocates have called Operation Chokepoint 2.0: a pattern of account closures at major banks during 2022 and 2023 that digital asset executives said targeted them specifically for their involvement in crypto. The name invokes the original Obama-era DOJ initiative that pressured banks to cut ties with legal but politically disfavored industries.
The industry's grievances have been documented publicly for years. Crypto founders described being dropped by banks without explanation, forced to cycle through multiple institutions to keep basic operations running. The most prominent recent example: Strike CEO Jack Mallers said in November 2025 that JPMorgan abruptly closed his accounts, citing the Bank Secrecy Act without further elaboration.
Caitlyn Long, whose application to open Custodia, a fully reserved Bitcoin bank, was denied during that period, framed the subpoenas precisely. The DOJ, she wrote, is collecting evidence of who at Biden's federal bank regulators directed the banks to debank targeted industries and individuals. The subpoenas are not a discovery exercise; they are documentation of something prosecutors believe they already understand.
WHERE THE BANKS STAND
JPMorgan and Bank of America each previously confirmed related probes in regulatory filings. JPMorgan disclosed in its November 2025 quarterly filing that it faced reviews and legal proceedings tied to Trump's August 2025 executive order on debanking. The bank stated that its code of conduct prohibits closing accounts for political or religious reasons. Bank of America made a similar disclosure around the same time. Wells Fargo declined to comment.
The subpoenas extend a broader enforcement campaign that began with Trump's August 2025 executive order directing regulators to review banks' account closure policies for political or religious discrimination. The OCC followed in September, requesting banking data from the nine largest banks it supervises. The Small Business Administration sent similar directives to more than 5,000 banks.
WHAT RESOLUTION ACTUALLY REQUIRES
The probe is a formal government inquiry, not a settlement or a consent order. Whether it produces meaningful structural change for Bitcoin-native businesses, including better access to banking and improved loan terms, depends on whether the subpoenas yield enforcement actions, not just headlines. The investigation has named the right targets and is asking the right questions. What it finds, and what the DOJ does with those findings, is what determines whether this changes anything for the next company that gets quietly dropped by its bank.
