Federal officials instructed banks to comb through customer data if terms like “TRUMP” or “MAGA” were used in transactions, according to documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
The revelations were made as House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced he had requested an interview with Noah Bishoff, the former director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“We now know the federal government flagged terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP,’ to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms,” Jordan said. “What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop.”
FinCEN reportedly asked banks to help federal law enforcement identify transactions of persons of interest using specific typologies and Merchant Category Codes after January 6, 2021. FinCEN provided the banks with documentation on various typologies and suggested search terms, according to Jordan.
“These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators,’” Jordan wrote.
“According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression,” Jordan added.
The letter also said that other transaction keywords identified by the feds included “Cabela’s” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods.”
“Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus — and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights — FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” Jordan wrote.
The letter asks Bishoff to be prepared to speak to lawmakers about what safeguards FinCEN has in place to safeguard constitutional liberties, the government’s use of private financial information, and coordination between FinCEN and the private sector.
Jordan also sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray to request an interview with FBI official Peter Sullivan over testimony that the FBI had requested information from Bank of America on “ANY historical purchase” of a gun six months before January 6, 2021, of anyone who had been in Washington, D.C., around January 6.
