Senator Cynthia Lummis has formally expressed concerns about allegations regarding the destruction of materials relating to FDIC’s crypto-related activities, particularly Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
The senator expressed this concern on Thursday in a letter sent to Marty Gruenberg, the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
According to the letter, Senator Lummis claimed she learned from whistleblowers that the FDIC is destroying documents relating to its crypto activities and closely monitoring staff access to these materials.
This restriction is part of efforts to prevent them from disclosing details of the materials to the Senate. Citing whistleblowers, Senator Lummis accused the FDIC of threatening some staff with legal actions to silence them.
Operation Chokepoint 2.0
The senator characterized the FDIC’s alleged destruction of materials regarding its crypto-related activities, particularly those related to Operation Chokepoint 2.0, as illegal.
Lummis’ allegation centers around Operation Chokepoint 2.0. For context, this relates to a purported effort by authorities to restrict crypto businesses from accessing traditional banking services.
Many industry stakeholders have previously blamed this effort for the collapse of Silvergate Bank. In a post on X, Lummis claimed the FDIC is attempting to hide Operation Chokepoint 2.0’s existence by destroying documents related to such actions.
The FDIC is attempting to hide Operation Chokepoint 2.0 and the FDIC must preserve all documents related to digital assets immediately. Tim Scott and I will get to the bottom of it. pic.twitter.com/98uLVVs60D
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 16, 2025
Lummis Issues Directive to FDIC
Consequently, Lummis demanded an immediate halt to the destruction and retaliatory actions against selected FDIC staff.
Furthermore, she directed the FDIC to preserve all materials relating to the agency’s crypto activities since January 1, 2022. They include the agency’s communication, documents, metadata, and digital information linked to its crypto activities.
She also specified certain areas of materials that must be preserved, including the FDIC’s supervision of banks like Silvergate and Signature, as well as the agency’s crypto-related communications with federal and state banking agencies, among others.
The senator emphasized that these materials might be relevant to the Senate Banking Committee in the near future.
Lummis Warns FDIC Execs of DOJ Investigation
According to Lummis, the Senate’s oversight power overrides any confidentiality claim by the FDIC or any other federal banking agencies regarding these crypto-related materials.
In parallel, she disclosed plans to initiate a criminal investigation with the Department of Justice (DoJ) of anyone attempting to intentionally destroy the FDIC crypto-related activities’ materials or obstruct the Senate’s oversight function.
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Source: https://thecryptobasic.com/2025/01/17/senator-lummis-threatens-fdic-with-doj-investigation-amid-destruction-of-implicating-crypto-documents/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=senator-lummis-threatens-fdic-with-doj-investigation-amid-destruction-of-implicating-crypto-documents