How Federal Agencies Enlisted Financial Giants to Spy on Americans

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It sounds like something straight out of a spy novel, but it’s not: recent findings by the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary and its Select Subcommittee have blown the lid off a startling instance of financial surveillance.

In a saga involving federal agencies and major financial institutions, it turns out the government was keeping tabs on ordinary Americans’ financial transactions, and the list of targets was not just any old random selection.

Rewind to the aftermath of the chaotic events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Federal law enforcement agencies, namely the FBI and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), cozied up with some of the largest financial institutions in the U.S.

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Think big names like Bank of America, Barclays, and PayPal. The goal? To snoop on Americans’ private financial dealings without the usual legal red tape.

Bank of America voluntarily provided the FBI with a list of everyone who used their cards in the D.C. area during the time of the Capitol breach.

Even more eyebrow-raising, they also gave up info on individuals who had bought firearms, regardless of when and where these purchases happened. This act raises questions about privacy and the role of financial institutions in surveillance.

The rabbit hole goes deeper. Documents uncovered during the investigation show that this wasn’t an isolated incident. It was part of a larger pattern where financial institutions shared heaps of private financial data with federal law enforcement, no warrants or subpoenas needed.

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The agencies even distributed a list of terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP” for banks to filter through transactions. In essence, what you bought or who you supported could land you on a watch list.

But wait, it gets even more concerning. The FBI shared an intelligence product with financial institutions highlighting individuals with conservative beliefs as potential domestic terrorists.

Opposition to firearm regulations, COVID-19 lockdowns, and even skepticism about the 2020 General Election were flagged as potential signs of extremism.

The implications of this are massive. Millions of Americans who merely exercised their rights or held conservative viewpoints were potentially being tracked by their own banks, under the watchful eye of the federal government. It’s a classic tale of Big Brother, but with a financial twist.

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Now, Congress is stepping in, vowing to protect Americans’ civil liberties and prevent such widespread surveillance in the future. In a bold move to protect the privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced S. 4075, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act.

This legislation aims to ban the use of a firearm retailer-specific Merchant Category Code (MCC), a tool that has been previously exploited by the federal government for political purposes. Echoing this sentiment, a companion bill, H.R. 7450, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), along with Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.).

The bills have the backing of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.

“The Biden administration has already admitted that it unlawfully used the private firearm purchase data of law-abiding citizens to label them as potential domestic terrorists in a politically-driven gun control scheme,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel.

“Senator Bill Hagerty’s legislation would protect the private financial data of citizens exercising their Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. No American should be concerned that the federal government is employing this scheme, concocted by gun control cheerleaders, that weaponizes an individual’s finances and their free exercise of Second Amendment rights to wrongly identify them as a criminal-in-waiting,” he continued.

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As federal policymakers are now acknowledging the need for a robust privacy safeguard, several states have already taken the lead. Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia have enacted similar legislation to protect the privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers.

In contrast, states like California and Colorado have taken opposite stances, with California requiring the use of a firearm retailer-specific MCC and Colorado considering similar legislation.

In this era where digital footprints can be traced with ease, the partnership of “Big Banks” and “Big Government” in surveilling private transactions has raised alarm bells. The ongoing congressional efforts, through these new bills, represent a crucial step in balancing national security needs with the protection of fundamental civil liberties.

As always, stay tuned for updates.

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