U.S. Ends Bank Penalty Practice Called 'Slush Fund' by GOP
- Some lawmakers saw liberal agenda in advocacy group payments
- Under Obama, part of fines went to offset effect of misdeeds
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The U.S. Justice Department is ending an Obama-era practice of allocating some Wall Street settlement money to advocacy groups that Republican lawmakers claimed were backing liberal causes.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday ordered that money collected as part of civil and criminal settlements may be used only to reimburse parties to the litigation or compensate victims. The restriction, which won’t apply retroactively to previous settlements, could limit the scope of some of the government’s largest Wall Street and environmental cases.