After a Florida Democrat said she’d take donations from the marijuana industry, Wells Fargo closed her bank account

By Christopher Ingraham
Reporter
August 20 at 4:12 PM

Wells Fargo Bank recently terminated the campaign account of a Florida political candidate after inquiring into whether the candidate intended to receive donations “from the medical marijuana industry in any capacity,” according to documents released Monday by the campaign.

Democrat Nikki Fried, running to be the state’s agriculture commissioner, is a former lobbyist who worked on behalf of a number of industries, including medical marijuana. The documents show that not long after opening a campaign account with Wells Fargo, the bank inquired about her stance on medical marijuana and her intent to accept donations from the medical marijuana industry. The bank subsequently closed her account, citing its “responsibility to oversee and manage banking risks.”

The move is highly unusual. If such a policy were applied nationwide it could potentially jeopardize the banking access of dozens of state and national politicians, as well as state agencies tasked with regulating the marijuana industry and collecting taxes on marijuana sales.

On June 13, Fried’s campaign opened an account with Wells Fargo, according to documents released by the campaign.

Campaign treasurer Gloria Maggiolo noted that the campaign had "never received a request of this nature from a financial institution” and confirmed to the bank that Fried would probably receive contributions “from lobbyists for the medical marijuana industry, as well as from executives, employees and corporations in the medical marijuana industry.” Maggiolo said that Fried was a former lobbyist for the industry and that any contributions from any source would happen under “all applicable IRS rules, FEC regulations, and Florida elections law.”

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