WASHINGTON (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has dropped an investigation into a buy now, pay later company with close ties to President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., saying the investigation was conducted in a biased manner and based off politics.
The CFPB on Tuesday notified Credova Financial, a subsidiary of Public Square Holdings, where Trump Jr. is a board member and investor, that it was no longer under investigation. Public Square is a directory of businesses that sell American-made products, including financing for firearms and family pets, that market to conservative-leaning customers. Credova provides buy now, pay later services to Trump Jr.’s GrabAGun firearms marketplace, which went public this year.
The agency says the investigation, initiated during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, was politically motivated against firearms companies and Trump Jr. However, the company has a record of dozens if not hundreds of consumer complaints and settlements over state consumer protection violations.
The closure of the investigation also comes when the CFPB, a watchdog agency that helps oversee the nation’s banks and financial services companies, has been undoing rulemaking, dropping other cases and ending law enforcement work that was done under previous administrations, including Trump’s first term.
The CFPB in Trump’s second term determined the Credova investigation “exemplifies the type of weaponization against disfavored industries and individuals” that Trump and the agency’s acting director, Russell Vought, are committed to ending, according to a letter sent to the chief counsel of Public Square Holdings. The CFPB during Biden’s term ratcheted up settlement demands on the company the day Trump Jr. joined Public Square’s board of directors, the letter said.
Former CFPB employees, from during Biden’s term, declined to speak about the decision, saying they’re not permitted to discuss investigations.
Previous claims against Credova
Michael Seifert, chairman and CEO of Public Square, said in a statement that the closure of the CFPB investigation “confirms the strength and integrity of our company and validates the trust our merchants and consumers place in us” and 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.”
However, the firm had for years been accused of charging junk fees to customers or violating state consumer protection rules.
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