According to a House committee report, the FDIC, under direction of the Justice Department, has pressured banks and other financial institutions to sever ties to a variety of legal businesses that the Obama administration considers objectionable.

The apparent goal of Operation Choke Point is to deny “high risk” merchants and entrepreneurs access to the banking and payment networks they need to survive.

Pawn shops, payday lenders and gun sellers were among the legal enterprises overtly targeted by the FDIC, according to lists recently taken down from the federal regulatory agency’s website.