The US Senate Banking Committee Republicans have officially dropped their lineup of witnesses for the Feb. 5 crypto-focused debanking hearing.
The witnesses are Nathan McCauley (CEO of Anchorage Digital), Evan Hafer (founder and executive chairman of Black Rifle Coffee), and Stephen Gannon, an attorney and partner at DWT Law.
Their combined testimonies are expected to unpack just how bad the debanking issue is—and whether there’s more to this story than banks just following the rules.
The session is set to take place on Capitol Hill, and will dig deep into allegations that financial regulators have been strong-arming banks to cut off accounts tied to certain people, businesses, and even political movements.
🚨NEW: The @BankingGOP has announced its witness list for next Wednesday’s debanking hearing:
📌Nathan McCauley (@nathanmccauley), CEO and founder of @Anchorage.
📌Evan Hafer (@EvanHafer), Founder and Executive Chairman of @blckriflecoffee.
📌Stephen Gannon, Partner at…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 28, 2025
Senator Tim Scott, who’s running the show as chairman, said the hearing is about giving a voice to all Americans who’ve been “debanked.”
House Oversight Committee joins the fight
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee is revving up its own investigation. Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, is on a mission to expose what he calls political bias in the banking sector.
Comer made his case during an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures yesterday where he laid out allegations that conservatives and businesses connected to politically sensitive industries—like energy and crypto—have been unfairly targeted by banks.
“We’ve heard numerous cases of conservatives being debanked,” Comer said. “We want to know if this is banks enforcing ESG policies, which we already know are discriminatory, or if the government is stepping in like they did with Twitter and Facebook.”
He’s referencing those Biden-era emails and behind-the-scenes moves that led to online censorship of conservative voices. When pressed for evidence, Comer said, “Yes, we have numerous instances—enough to open an investigation,” he said.
He pointed to examples of outspoken conservative activists and energy businesses suddenly losing access to basic banking services. Comer also slammed the irony of Democrats passing anti-discrimination banking laws while banks allegedly cut off accounts based on political or social ideologies.
“During our Biden influence-peddling investigation, banks were one of the few entities that actually worked with us. I expect we’ll get some answers this time, too,” he added.
Banks deny political bias
The big banks are denying everything though. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, both called out by Trump and Comer, insist politics play no role in their decision-making.
Bank of America reportedly told Fox Business, “We never close accounts for political reasons. We are required to follow strict government rules and regulations, which sometimes lead to decisions to exit certain relationships.”
JPMorgan said, “We follow the law. Full stop. Political bias has no place in our policies.” But these reassurances haven’t stopped criticism from piling up, especially within the crypto community, which has long accused traditional banks and Wall Street as a whole of being hostile to the industry.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, personally addressed complaints from crypto businesses during his company’s The Unshakeables podcast on Jan. 21, Jamie admitted that banks aren’t allowed to explain why they’re shutting down accounts.
“We should be allowed to tell clients why,” he said. “There should be far clearer rules about what we have to do and what we don’t have to do.”
The FDIC didn’t help its case when documents surfaced showing that it had issued warnings to banks about the risks of working with crypto businesses.
Interestingly, First Lady Melania Trump was reportedly debanked too. Donald Trump wasn’t mentioned though, possibly because his accounts come with a bigger financial cushion.
But both cases point to a larger trend: banks are making cost-benefit decisions about who’s worth keeping as a client, and politically exposed persons (PEPs) face more scrutiny under anti-money laundering laws.
Cooper Kirk, a law firm with based in Washington, has also been investigating, and it claims regulators are acting illegally by denying state-chartered banks access to the Federal Reserve system simply because they serve crypto clients, using arbitrary and opaque standards to pressure banks into closing accounts, as well as violating constitutional rights by depriving businesses of due process.
