Federal prosecutors have sent legal demands to several major financial institutions as part of an investigation into whether banks inappropriately terminated customer accounts based on political motivations, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday.
The legal requests for information, with some issued as far back as last year, originated from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of Jeanine Pirro.
The subpoenas asked financial institutions to supply lists of customers who were allegedly “debanked,” as well as documentation explaining the reasoning behind account terminations, according to the report.
The investigation includes JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, while Pirro’s office is also pursuing information from Wells Fargo, the report stated, referencing sources with knowledge of the matter.
When contacted for comment, JPMorgan Chase did not provide an immediate response to Reuters. Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo chose not to comment on the matter.
These subpoenas represent an escalation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to scrutinize major banks and their oversight agencies. In the previous year, he issued an executive order mandating that the banking sector verify it was not refusing financial services to certain controversial industries through what is commonly called “debanking.”
A previous examination by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency revealed that the nation’s nine largest banking institutions had historically implemented limitations on financial service provision.
