Fargo weenies out

Wells Fargo has closed the account of a Florida politician because of her position on marijuana.

“As part of the onboarding of the client it was uncovered some information regarding the customers [sic] political platform and that they are advocating for expanding patient access to medical marijuana,” WF vice president and “senior relationship manager” Antoinette Infante wrote in a July 11 email to the campaign of Nikki Fried, who is running for state agriculture commissioner.

Banks, which are federally regulated, have been reluctant to take deposits of money from marijuana dispensaries because the plant remains illegal under old federal laws. But challenging the political views of marijuana-supporting politicians takes submission to the feds to a new level.

After Fried responded to a bank inquiry by saying she did indeed receive campaign contributions from marijuana health businesses and would continue accepting them, the bank wrote to her, “Periodically, we review our account relationships as part of our responsibility to oversee and manage banking risks. As a result of a recent review of your account relationship, we determined that we need to discontinue our business relationship and close the account above within 30 days from the date of this letter.”

Wells Fargo has more than a 100 Nevada offices.