Feds flagged transactions with keywords ‘MAGA’, ‘Trump’ for financial institutions: House panel

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The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Wednesday announced that it had obtained documents showing that federal agencies flagged financial transactions for financial institutions using politically sensitive terms such as “MAGA” and “Trump.”

The panel described an effort by which Americans might see their transactions flagged while making innocuous transactions such as purchasing a Bible or shopping at sporting goods stores.

“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 concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” the committee said in a press release.

The panel subsequently announced it was seeking interviews with senior intelligence officials, including former Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Noah Bishoff.

In writing to Bishoff, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan highlighted the materials his probe had already uncovered.

“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,'” he 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.”