January 1, Biden Administration Admits to MAGA Surveillance in Banking Transactions

The Biden administration has recently come clean about a surveillance initiative that utilized politically loaded terms such as “MAGA” and “Trump” to monitor private banking transactions. This is the first instance of the administration publicly confessing to the use of these particular terms in surveillance activities.

Senator Tim Scott has voiced his disapproval of this surveillance method, describing it as a “flagrant violation of Americans’ privacy” in a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Scott maintains that this surveillance unfairly targeted U.S. citizens, infringing upon their constitutionally rights without due process.

The Treasury Department, in response to Senator Scott, cited “exchange events” organized by its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as part of the surveillance operation.

Interestingly, a financial institution reportedly devised search terms such as “MAGA” and “Trump” for internal use and shared them with FinCEN to identify potentially suspicious activities. However, the terms “Kamala” and “Biden” were also used.

The originating bank’s identity remains undisclosed. Still, it is alleged that FinCEN passed these terms onto other banks to encourage similar searches.

The House Judiciary Committee disclosed that federal investigators instructed banks to use terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” to sift through customer transactions as part of the January 6 investigation. They also cautioned that purchases of “religious texts” could be signs of “extremism.”

Chair Jim Jordan revealed that post-January 6, 2021, the Treasury Department’s FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions, detailing “typologies” of interest and suggesting search terms for identifying transactions on behalf of law enforcement.

These materials recommended using terms like “Trump” and “MAGA” for searching Zelle payment messages and emphasized indicators of “Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism.”

Bank of America told Fox News that it followed all applicable laws and cooperated with the committee’s evaluation of the laws. The Department of Treasury responded with a letter to Sen. Scott regarding the allegations.

“While we are still looking into the details of these events, [January 6] we understand that these FinCEN Exchange events included government and private sector representatives who voluntarily participated in discussions and information exchanges focused on identifying the perpetrators of this attack and providing support to ongoing law enforcement investigations,” the letter alleges.

“…to the extent key words or phrases were suggested, it was expected they would be used alongside other factors and data that banks regularly analyze as part of their AML programs to detect and report suspicious activity.”

Why It Matters (op-ed)

The Biden administration’s confession to using politically charged terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” in monitoring private banking transactions is a chilling example of government overreach. This invasive surveillance threatens the very foundation of our constitutional rights and privacy.

Senator Tim Scott’s condemnation of this practice is well-founded, as it demonstrates a clear bias against certain political affiliations. The use of these terms, coupled with the targeting of “religious texts” and Second Amendment-related transactions, shows a concerning disregard for fundamental liberties.

This troubling revelation calls into question the administration’s commitment to upholding the Constitution and respecting the rights of all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs.

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