Congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R-FL) criticized the Biden administration for its abuse and overreach of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) while calling for future reforms in an exclusive interview with The Floridian publisher Javier Manjarres.
"What the Biden administration was doing is they were abusing the regulatory framework that the SEC has. It was complete overreach," Donalds said. "They were Operation Choke Point 2.0 was in play. They were deciding to use the regulatory apparatus of SEC to block or diminish companies or industries they didn't like."
The SEC, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934, is an independent federal government agency that oversees the securities industry and protects investors from fraud and other nefarious business activities.
Operation Choke Point 2.0, picked up by Republicans, was an alleged campaign under the Biden Administration to pressure banks into denying services, or "debanking," to the crypto industry.
A similar initiative was implemented under the Obama administration, allegedly with similar tactics.
Rep. Donalds indicated things are now different.
"Now that they're gone, what you're starting to see is companies are saying, okay, gosh, I can breathe again. I can actually go and conduct my business, and they're operating within the confines of the law," Donalds said.
However, he mentioned reforms were "100%" needed for the agency moving forward, which the congressman noted could be a tough shake in D.C. Either way, Donalds could be down in Tallahassee at that point if elected next fall.
"I think we have to modernize the financial regulatory framework of this country. This is something that's been long overdue," Donalds said. "You've got to have an administration that is going to make sure people are following the law, but they can't abuse the same regulatory process that they're responsible in governing and managing and executing, because all they'll do is diminish the ability for people to do business in our country."
