Report Finds Country's Largest Banks Systemically 'Debanked and Discriminated' Against Conservatives Under Biden
The nation’s largest banks closed accounts and cut off credit to MAGA merchants, pro-life groups, Christian organizations, and other customers over politics and religion between President Donald Trump’s first and second terms, according to a federal banking regulator’s review released Wednesday.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency examined the nine biggest national banks it supervises: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO.
All nine had policies that required, encouraged, or influenced staff to deny or limit service because of a customer’s political or religious beliefs or lawful business activity, the OCC reported in a news release.
The 47-page report is titled, “Debanked: Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans.”
Reviewers looked at nearly 100,000 complaints and about 50,000 documents, the news release states. They found that during President Joe Biden’s administration, financial institutions followed broad “reputation risk” policies that lacked clear standards and that disadvantaged customers based on political, religious, or social views.
Major banks closed accounts of MAGA, pro-life and other conservative groups disfavored by Biden admin: bombshell report
By Miranda Devine
Published Oct. 14, 2026, 7:54 a.m. ET-Major banks closed accounts and refused credit to MAGA merchants, pro-life causes, religious groups, conservative organizations and sectors disfavored by the Biden administration, such as firearms, oil and gas, and private prisons, a bombshell report from the federal banking regulator has found.
The Debanking Review by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) investigated 100,000 complaints and scrutinized 50,000 internal bank records to reveal how customers were “debanked” based purely on their political, social, or religious beliefs.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO Bank were found to have discriminated against American consumers, citing “reputation risk” as a reason to deny service between 2020 and 2025.
-New York Post
Read more: https://t.co/QEzr3WqqNe— Carolyn Rockey (@CarolynWRockey) October 14, 2026
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine published detailed examples from the report on Wednesday.
Negative news coverage, protests, criticism from groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, and fear of regulators or politicians were the risks banks cited most often, Devine wrote. The banks also restricted sectors including oil and gas, coal, firearms and ammunition, detention facilities, tobacco and e-cigarettes, as well as digital assets.
JPMorgan’s payment arm, WePay, closed the account of a merchant selling material “Make America Great Again” merchandise after staff said it promoted “hate, violence, or racial intolerance.” Internal screens flagged terms such as “MAGA,” “Make America Great,” and “America First.” Several of those terms were added after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion. WePay also shut accounts for a seller of “conservative/republican t-shirts, hats, etc.,” with red flags including a “Biden-Illegitimate-Tshirt,” a “The-Big-Lie-Sticker,” and a “Trump-Won” flag.
Alzheimers🍦Joe Biden weaponized banks against political enemies👇
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO Bank discriminated against American consumers, citing “reputation risk” to deny service between 2020 and 2025.— AOCsPooter (@AOCzPooter) October 14, 2026
WePay closed a religious organization’s account after the SPLC labeled it an “extremist hate group.” Bank employees described it in the tracking system as a “right wing religious conservative non profit with strong anti LGBTQ rhetoric.”
Another closed account had raised money for a devout Christian’s legal challenge to anti-discrimination laws.
PNC refused a line of credit to a media company after its “environmental, social and governance” group noted that one owner’s foundation had funded Christian conservative groups the SPLC called hate groups, and that another owner was a conservative commentator, the report noted.
The employee who recommended the denial wrote that it was hard to justify aligning with owners whose public opinions were “very contrary to PNC’s beliefs/values.”
Wells Fargo pressured a payment processor to drop a religious nonprofit over its views on same-sex marriage, and it declined to lend to two firearms businesses. A reputation-risk review of one prospective firearms client noted that under the Biden administration, banks could face greater supervisory pressure to move away from the industry.
Bank of America dropped private-prison businesses, citing “changing policymaker attitudes,” then tried to restore one of the accounts months into the Trump administration.
The report also found denials on both sides of the spectrum. Capital One declined service to an abortion supporting group as “outside its risk appetite,” the OCC report stated. And it turned down a gun-rights group “due to optics that we endorsed its position.”
In the OCC news release, Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said the report provided “irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses.”
“Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views,” he said.
He added that the banks’ own reforms had not gone far enough and that the OCC is considering further supervisory changes.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday it is investigating the banks named in the report, Devine reported.
In a news release, acting CFPB Director Mark Paoletta called the practices “thuggish tactics” and said many of those targeted were Trump supporters.
Under the leadership of @POTUS and @SecScottBessent, @USComptroller Jonathan V. Gould is ending the weaponization of finance. Read about the OCC’s supervisory review of debanking activities in its nine largest national banks and its efforts to guarantee fair banking for all Americans. https://t.co/MveW1JnwTH
— OCC (@USOCC) October 14, 2026
The review followed President Trump’s Aug. 7, 2025, executive order, “Guaranteeing Fair Access to Banking for All Americans,” which directed regulators to combat politicized debanking.
A JPMorgan spokesman told Devine that a process used by WePay, a small company the bank acquired and has since wound down, “did not meet our expectations,” that the bank corrected it, and that its policies prohibit discrimination based on political or religious views.
The OCC said no bank had fully and publicly acknowledged weaponizing finance against Americans.
The practices the report describes are findings from the regulator’s review, not criminal charges.
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