{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://luetkemeyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398507", "Luetkemeyer Urges FDIC Chairman to Act Swiftly in Investigating Involvement in Operation Choke", "2014-12-10", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Blaine Luetkemeyer", "L000569", "luetkemeyer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) today sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg to follow-up on yesterday\u2019s meeting regarding the agency\u2019s involvement in Operation Choke Point. \r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) today sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg to follow-up on yesterday\u2019s meeting regarding the agency\u2019s involvement in Operation Choke Point. \r\nThe letter from Luetkemeyer reiterates the importance of the FDIC conducting a full review of senior staff members who have, with the Chairman\u2019s approval, clearly committed wrongdoing.\r\n\u201cThere is neither doubt nor denial that numerous members of your senior staff have allowed personal and political views to interfere with the important work of the FDIC,\u201d Luetkemeyer stated in the letter. \u201cTheir actions have not only called into question their ability to appropriately carry out their duties, but also have exposed your entire agency to what many of your staff would refer to as significant \u2018reputational risk.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nIn addition, Luetkemeyer urges Chairman Gruenberg to use his authority to alter and improve the FDIC\u2019s examination process in an effort to create more transparency and reign in these \u201cvigilante activists\u201d FDIC examiners and senior staff. Luetkemeyer\u2019s latest legislation targeted at Operation Choke Point, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, includes language that would dictate that federal banking regulators cannot suggest, request or order a financial institution to terminate a banking relationship unless the regulator has material reason. Moreover, the legislation states clearly that \u2018reputational risk\u2019 alone is not reason to order account terminations. \r\n\u201cI appreciate Chairman Gruenberg\u2019s willingness to meet and it is my sincere hope he acts swiftly to bring punitive measures against FDIC staff members that have violated public trust,\u201d Luetkemeyer said. \u201cI will continue to hold the FDIC accountable for its actions and wrongdoing, which is why I requested a meeting with Chairman Gruenberg and Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig during the second week of January so they can report back to me and I can hear firsthand the progress made in bringing Operation Choke Point to an end once and for all. If the FDIC has not made substantial headway on these efforts, I will pursue new legislation to ensure this behavior does not happen again.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://luetkemeyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398507"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.845065202564001, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}