CFPB drops investigation into Trump Jr.-affiliated BNPL lender

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ended a four-year investigation into a company where Donald Trump Jr. serves on the board. 

Credova Financial is a buy now/pay later firm focused on financing firearm purchases. The company was acquired in March 2024 by PSQ Holdings, where Donald Trump Jr. has served on the board since December 2024. PSQ also operates what it calls a "cancel-proof" payments company, PSQ Payments, and Public Square, a marketplace that allows consumers to "shop their values" by connecting them with businesses with "traditional American values." 

In a letter to PSQ Holdings, CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta said the investigation, which began under former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in 2021, exemplified "the type of weaponization against disfavored industries and individuals that President Trump and Acting Director Vought are committed to ending.  

"This investigation also represents precisely the kind of unconstitutional targeting that President Trump prohibited in his executive Order on debanking," Paoletta said. 

Paoletta was also critical of the CFPB's handling of its investigation of Credova, and claimed the agency tried to use Trump Jr.'s appointment to the company's board as leverage to secure a settlement with the financier. 

"I also was appalled to learn that the timing of the Bureau's actions was so plainly politically motivated. Based on my review of the record, it is my understanding that, after a period of inactivity and allowing the evidence to go stale, the Bureau ratcheted up its settlement demands, via a proposed consent decree on December 3, 2024," Paoletta said. "This date was, in fact, the same day as Public Square, Credova's parent company, announced the addition of Donald Trump Jr. to its Board of Directors. The Bureau then pressured Credova to settle before the inauguration of President Trump."

Michael Seifert, chairman and CEO of PublicSquare, thanked Trump and CFPB staff in a statement. 

"This outcome is a win for our entire company, our board, our customers, and a 2nd Amendment community that has seen years of government attempts to regulate businesses like ours out of existence," Seifert said. "We would like to thank President Trump, Acting Director Vought, CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta, CFPB Senior Adviser Jeff Clark, and the CFPB staff for their internal review of this investigation and commitment to ensuring the Bureau operates free from political bias and suppression of constitutional rights." 

The move is the latest in the CFPB's efforts to rollback actions the bureau undertook under the leadership of Chopra, a Biden appointee. The CFPB this year has dropped its probe into Zelle, the bank-owned peer-to-peer payments firm with no explanation, floated the idea of rolling back its 1033 open banking regulation and amended a consent order with digital remittance company Wise that reduced the company's penalty to a fraction of what it once was. 

Palm Beach, Florida-based PublicSquare was founded in February 2021 in response to increased "cancel culture" in business and politics that have led to widespread accusations of debanking by conservatives, its leaders say. Banks have denied that they take ideology into consideration when considering account opening or closing. 

President Trump earlier this month said he was himself a victim of debanking by two of the country's largest banks, JPMorganChase and Bank of America.