Records searches based on ‘protected political and religious expression’Buying a “religious text” shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, protest-turned-riot at the Capitol could be suggestive of “extremism.”That was the stunning opinion expressed by the federal government as the nation was going through the turmoil of a suspect presidential election, according to a report from Fox News.
It was during that time following the 2020 vote that federal agents insisted banks search and filter customer transactions using the terms “MAGA” and “Trump,” and warned that buying those “religious” items could be problematic.
The leftist ideology to which the federal agents adhered at the time was revealed in a letter released by the House Judiciary Committee.
“Fox News Digital has learned the committee also obtained documents that indicate officials suggested that banks query transactions with keywords like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops and more,” the report said.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the committee chair, said in the report there are documents confirming “the Treasury Department’s Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, distributed materials to financial institutions that outlined ‘typologies’ of ‘various persons of interest’ and provided the banks with ‘suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.'”
Those included, “Trump,” “MAGA” and more.
Jordan explained, in a letter to former FinCEN chief Noah Bishoff, that, “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 areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.'”
Jordan, the report explained, charged bluntly: “In other words, FinCEN used 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 wrote…
Jordan explained banks were given information on how to use merchant category codes to detect customers who may be “potential active shooters” or “terrorists.”
The report continued with Jordan”s concerns: “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 liberties.”