Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is looking into the process by which the Trump administration approved the formation of a new bank backed by a bunch of right-wing tech bros.
As President Donald Trump attacks the independence of the United States’ financial system, his allies are making hay in an environment that he has already tipped further in their favor.
Last week, Warren sent a letter demanding documents from the founder of Erebor Bank. The bank, which has a “Lord of the Rings”-inspired name, was launched last year by tech executive Palmer Luckey.
Basically, Warren is following up on concerns expressed last fall that the bank was given favorable treatment by the Trump administration in what she said was an abnormally fast approval process. Luckey’s companies have signed massive deals to develop weapons technology for the federal government, and his bank is partly backed by wealthy tech bros who have used their riches to fuel the MAGA agenda, such as Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale. (You can read a bit more on Thiel’s and Lonsdale’s extremist behavior here and here.)
The senator’s letter cites a memo that Erebor reportedly sent out to potential investors last year that said the company expected approval of its charter by the end of 2025 thanks in part to Luckey’s “political network” and the bank’s close ties to regulators.
In her letter, Warren wrote:
The facts and circumstances surrounding the application process raise serious questions about the legal legitimacy of Erebor’s charter and deposit insurance approvals. It is deeply troubling that the regulatory process may have been contaminated by backroom political manipulation. In a free and competitive economy, credit flows fairly based on the needs and productive capacity of households and business, not corruptly based on the whims of the President’s billionaire cronies.
Her letter requests “documents and information regarding all interactions between representatives of Erebor Group, Inc. and the White House, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regarding Erebor’s national bank charter and federal deposit insurance applications.”
Similar letters were sent to the leaders of the OCC and the FDIC.
In a post on X last week, Warren decried the approval process for Erebor, calling it “Trump Grifting 101.” In response, Luckey denied that his bank was approved “rapidly.” He also denied having personally said his political network would help obtain approval — which, we should note, is not a denial that someone operating on his or his company’s behalf did so.
Needless to say, many questions are swirling around this bank. And Warren wants answers.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.