How at least 13 banks worked with the FBI after January 6 to spy on transactions of hundreds of pro-gun and religious Trump supporters ‘without warrants’
At least 13 financial institutions are under investigation by Republicans in Congress for colluding with the federal government to spy on Americans following the January 6 protests for “extremism” indicators.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, led by top Republican Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is investigating the “collusion” between U.S. banks and federal agencies in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
The Biden administration worked with banks to search indicators of “extremism,” such as the purchase of a religious text such as a Bible, or searches using the terms “MAGA” and “TRUMP,” according to shocking revelations from the committee.
Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank and Truist were already targeted by the investigation to expose how the The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the The FBI cooperated.
Now, for the first time, DailyMail.com can reveal that seven other financial companies are also under investigation for links to an FBI and FinCEN plot to spy on Americans’ private banking transactions without first obtaining a warrant.
Charles Schwab, HSBC, MUFG, PayPal, Santander, Standard Chartered and Western Union have all been asked to turn over documents and communications with FinCEN and the FBI to the committee, according to letters obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.
U.S. Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen told lawmakers in February that she doesn’t know much about the surveillance briefs distributed by FinCEN after Jan. 6.
The House Judiciary Committee revealed in January that U.S. Treasury Department officials distributed a memo around Jan. 6, 2021, instructing financial institutions on how to spot indicators of extremism, such as purchasing trips to Washington, D.C., or religious texts.
“The Committee and Select Subcommittee remain concerned about how and to what extent federal law enforcement and financial institutions continue to spy on Americans by weaponizing the sharing of backdoor information and labeling vast types of transactions, purchasing behavior, and protected political or religious speech as potentially ‘suspicious.’ ‘ or indicative of ‘extremism”, according to the letters to the institutions.
“Documents obtained by the Committee and Select Subcommittee indicate that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) circulated concerning materials,” Jordan wrote to each of the seven additional companies.
Charles Schwab, MUFG, PayPal, Santander, Standard Chartered and Western Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HSBC declined DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
“This type of unauthorized financial surveillance raises serious concerns about the federal government’s respect for Americans’ privacy and fundamental civil liberties,” Jordan wrote in a separate letter to Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen, also obtained by DailyMail.com.
According to investigators, on January 17, 2021, FinCEN and the FBI received data on 211 individuals from Bank of America in a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).
But the SAR was sent only after the FBI and FinCEN asked U.S. banks to search customer transactions for key terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” to identify “extremism” in a memo distributed in the aftermath of January 6.
The federal agencies provided financial institutions with “thresholds” at which a SAR would have to be raised, said Peter Sullivan, the FBI’s former financial sector liaison.
On April 9, he took part in a transcribed interview with the Armaments Committee.
According to the ‘threshold’ established by the FBI and FinCEN, Bank of America then sent the data of the 211 people.
“Given this coordination, the Committee and the Select Subcommittee are concerned that the Federal Government, through the FBI and FinCEN, has sent similar or identical thresholds to other financial institutions that have manipulated the SAR registration process to obtain, without charge, the information and transaction history of individuals to find out. of federal criminal conduct,” the letter to Yellen said.
When pressed about the Treasury Department’s FinCEN materials distributed to major financial institutions during a February Congressional hearing, Yellen dodges lawmakers’ questions, responding once, “I promise to do everything will investigate thoroughly.’
After Bank of America sent the list of 211 customers whose transactions met federal “thresholds,” Sullivan requested additional transaction history.
He asked Bank of America to forward any “gun-related transactions.”
Four of Bank of America’s original 211 customers were eligible.
This led to ‘criminal background questions’ for the four customers.
Later, four federal agents were deployed to three FBI field offices to investigate these individuals.
After the investigation was completed, the FBI uploaded their findings to a portal and sent “a number of leads” to even more interested individuals.
But according to Steve Jensen, then section chief of the FBI’s domestic terrorism operations selector, the leads were dropped because there were “no allegations of federal criminal conduct.”
Federal agencies have given financial institutions “thresholds” at which a SAR would have to be raised, said Peter Sullivan, the FBI’s former financial sector liaison.
Bank of America sent customers’ private financial information to federal officials to help them investigate crimes related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol protest
This means that even though these individuals met the “thresholds” set by the FBI and FinCEN, they were not actually investigated for an alleged crime.
“Given this coordination, the Committee and the Select Subcommittee are concerned that the Federal Government, through the FBI and FinCEN, has sent similar or identical thresholds to other financial institutions that have manipulated the SAR registration process to obtain, without charge, the information and transaction history of individuals to find out. of federal criminal conduct,” the letter to Yellen continued.
The committee also obtained documents showing that officials suggested that banks requesting purchases with keywords such as “Dick’s Sporting Goods” could be signs of extremism.
In the aftermath of January 6, FinCEN even suggested that banks review transactions at sporting and recreational goods stores such as Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shops to identify customers who might be “extremists.”
In addition, officials also warned banks about “extremism” indicators such as the purchase of a religious text, such as a Bible, or searches using the terms “MAGA” and “TRUMP.”
In March, Jordan sent letters to GoFundMe and Eventbrite asking them to cooperate with the commission’s ongoing investigation.
Republicans in the House of Representatives say the federal government has urged crowdfunding platforms to “comb” their personal transactions and “report charges based on protected political and religious speech.”
The federal government has also created “profiles” of the American people, kept in a “secret portal” shared with companies to identify the level of extremism of customers, Jordan said.
An interface shared between more than 650 companies and federal officials contains a “secret portal” containing sensitive data on American citizens, the Ohio Republican warned during a March 6 hearing.
Jordan has said conservatives and Christians were targeted by FinCEN’s surveillance
“The federal government is building profiles of the American people. And the profile is not based on criminal behavior, it is based on political beliefs,” Jordan said at the time.
“And if you have the wrong political beliefs, you are potentially a domestic violent extremist.”