Federal investigators asked financial institutions to use search terms like “TRUMP” and “MAGA” when combing through customer data after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed Wednesday.
The request came from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen), according to documents obtained by the House Select Subcommittee on Federal Government Armaments.
The panel, chaired by Jordan, sought testimony from former director of the agency’s Strategic Operations Division, Noah Bishoff, as part of an investigation into what the Ohio Republican called a “disturbing” case of “extensive financial surveillance” that appeared to be conducted “on a politically motivated basis.” protected.” speech.
“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outlined a ‘typology’ of various interested parties and provided financial institutions with proposed search terms and Merchant Categories. (MCC) code to identify transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Bishoff.
“These materials include documents that recommend the use of generic terms such as ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search for Zelle payment messages,'” he said.
Jordan called the financial oversight “alarming,” AP
FinCen also provided its “Single Actor/Domestic Terrorism Extremism Indicators” analysis to financial institutions that helped the government find suspects involved in the Capitol riots, according to Jordan, who warned that indicators of “extremism” include purchases such as “bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas without a clear purpose” or “purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.”
“In other words, FinCEN is urging large financial institutions to comb their customers’ private transactions for suspicious charges based on protected political and religious expression,” Jordan argued in the letter.
The lawmakers also alleged that FinCEN distributed slides explaining how financial institutions could flag customers who fit the profile of a “potential active shooter” or terrorist based on their transactions.
Financial institutions use terms like “TRUMP” and “MAGA'” to search for customers’ Zelle payment messages, according to Jordan. AP
The slide directs financial institutions to search terms such as “Small Arms,” ”Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods,” among others.
“Although these transactions have no apparent criminal connection — and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights — FinCEN appears to have used the characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors,” Jordan wrote.
The search was conducted on behalf of the federal government after the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol. AP
In a separate letter sent Wednesday, the panel’s chairman also asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to make a senior official in the bureau’s Strategic Partner Engagement Division available for a transcribed interview related to Bank of America’s cooperation with the FBI after January 6.
Jordan is seeking to question FBI official Peter Sullivan about the bureau’s “massive collection and use of Americans’ personal information without due process of law”; FBI protocols, if any, to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans in the receipt and use of such information; and the FBI’s general engagement with the private sector on law enforcement matters.”
At the FBI’s request, the nation’s second-largest bank “voluntarily and without due process” snooped on information about anyone who made certain purchases in and around Washington before and after the riots, Jordan alleged.
Sullivan, he said, gave Bank of America specific search terms to look for as it examined customer data, which showed purchases of firearms, hotels, Airbnb or airline tickets leading up to and after January 6, 2021.
Bank of America reportedly handed over the information of 211 people to the FBI, Fox News reported in February 2021. Only one of the 211 was brought in for questioning.
No one was arrested, according to the outlet’s report.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
