Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today made the following comment on guidance from the Obama administration designed to guide banks in serving marijuana sellers in states that have legalized the drug.
“Marijuana trafficking is illegal under federal law, and it’s illegal for banks to deal with marijuana sale proceeds under federal law. Only Congress can change these laws. The Administration can’t change the law with a memo. While the Justice Department’s memo tries to guide prosecutorial discretion, that discretion shouldn’t be used to facilitate illegal conduct. The Justice Department is encouraging an improper use of prosecutorial discretion. This is just one more area in which the Obama Administration is undermining our system of checks and balances and the rule of law.”