February 26, 2026

Ahead of Hearing, Warren Probes Suspicious Approval of Bank Charter for Trump's Billionaire Friends in Silicon Valley

“If my inquiry reveals that Erebor’s national bank charter was not granted in accordance with law and regulation, and instead represented a corrupt political favor to the President’s billionaire supporters in Silicon Valley, it would have to be terminated.”

Letter to OCC (PDF) | Letter to FDIC (PDF) | Letter to Erebor Bank (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – Ahead of today’s financial regulator hearing, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing sent letters to Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the the Currency; Travis Hill, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); and Palmer Luckey, Founder of Erebor Bank pressing for information on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) and FDIC’s rapid approval of Erebor Bank’s charter and deposit insurance applications following circulation of a troubling investor memo that suggested Luckey’s political network would ensure approval.

“On June 11, 2025, Erebor Group, Inc. submitted a national bank charter application to the OCC. The bank’s investors include Palmer Luckey, Joe Lonsdale, and Peter Thiel – Big Tech billionaires with close ties to the Trump administration,” wrote the Ranking Member. “All have been major donors to President Donald Trump, Vice President Vance, and the GOP. Erebor would serve as the financial hub for an interrelated set of Silicon Valley firms owned by these billionaires and their friends.”

“Typically, a complex application that posits a high-risk business model would face uncertain odds of approval and, in any event, would likely take significant time for the agency to vet. But soon after the application was filed, a memo was circulated to potential investors that included a bold prediction: the bank expected approval by the end of 2025. The memo reportedly stated that Luckey’s ‘political network will get this done’ and that a co-founder had ‘unique connectivity to banking regulators,’ including Comptroller Gould.” wrote the Senator.

The Senator continued: “It is deeply troubling that Erebor’s fundraising memo may have correctly described the reason for the approval: the bank’s ‘political network’ and ‘unique connectivity to banking regulators.’ If my inquiry reveals that Erebor’s national bank charter was not granted in accordance with law and regulation, and instead represented a corrupt political favor to the President’s billionaire supporters in Silicon Valley, it would have to be terminated.”

The Senator requested documents, including Erebor’s full unredacted charter application, and answers to her questions about correspondence regarding Erebor’s application by March 12, 2026.

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