Old Glory Bank co-founder and president Mike Ring blasted years of banking discrimination against conservatives and entire industries in a long overdue Senate hearing on debanking.
Ring founded Old Glory Bank as an alternative to banks that gave in to cancel culture and on Feb. 5 he testified before the Senate Banking Committee alongside three other witnesses. Ring told MRC Free Speech America that discussion about the problem of debanking is no longer being hidden now that Republicans control the Senate. Ring explained, “the taboo of debanking is gone, and everyone now gets to joke [about it] and it's real. And six months ago, people were still denying that debanking was real.”
Ring explained why Congress must address debanking. “I think [Democrats] think that debanking is banks canceling customers who are late on fees or who bounced checks,” Ring said. “That's bank business. What they're ignoring is debanking industries, 2A, oil and gas, crypto and debanking individuals, and that's the worst.” Ring added, partially in reference to banks working to cut off gun manufacturers.
He gave examples of people who had been debanked including Trump’s Lawyer, John Eastman, and America’s Frontline Doctors founder Dr. Simone Gold, both of whom later became customers of Old Glory Bank. He also referred to January 6th protestors who had their accounts closed on them. “[Democrats] were ignoring that. That's not because they bounced checks,” Ring said.
Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) announced the hearing after President Donald Trump publicly called out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for debanking customers over their political beliefs. As explored in the hearing, disfavored industries such as crypto companies and gun manufacturers, as well as individuals with socially conservative beliefs, have been cut off from funding.
However, while Republican members of the committee laid into years of financial censorship, most Democrats repeatedly ignored the real purpose of the hearing by attacking their latest stalking horse, Elon Musk.
Ring critiqued the Democrat members of the committee for losing focus. “I am disappointed that we lost half the committee time talking about Elon Musk, love Elon, but that was kind of a waste.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) devoted so much time to Musk that he apologized to a witness for not having time to ask him a question related to the subject of the hearing. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) also wasted time on this topic. Most of the Democrats avoided the issue of banking discrimination against disfavored views and industries entirely, even when they did address debanking.
Other witnesses included Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Partner Stephen Gannon, Anchorage Digital Co-Founder and CEO Nathan McCauley and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Aaron Klein.
Klein also largely avoided the point of the hearing in his written testimony, opening remarks and answers. When asked about Klein’s testimony, Ring suggested that Klein may have prepared his answers with some members of the committee before the hearing.
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