José E. Serrano: “At the behest of the House Republicans' inquiry, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility…”

“At the behest of the House Republicans' inquiry, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility investigated whether there was misconduct or targeting of legal businesses by Operation Choke Point. The DOJ's OPR, in their report from last year, found that absolutely no wrongdoing had occurred. The DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility ``concluded that the Department of Justice attorneys involved in Operation Choke Point did not engage in professional misconduct,'' and that, ``OPR's inquiry further determined that Civil Division employees did not improperly target lawful participants.'' Moreover, a follow-on report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation inspector general found that the FDIC's involvement in Operation Choke Point was inconsequential to the direction and outcome of the initiative. Operation Choke Point is an enforcement action by the Department of Justice, whose funding is not addressed by this particular appropriations bill. In fact, that is part of the large problem with this amendment--that it really speaks to issues that belong in another bill. What this provision really does is tell the banking regulators not to cooperate with law enforcement when the Department of Justice has identified mass market fraud and other abuses of the payments system. The Department of Justice has made it a priority to hold the perpetrators of consumer fraud accountable.…”