In a letter published on Wednesday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government revealed that the Biden administration has been flagging financial transactions using search terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” or for items such as the Bible.
The letter — which was written by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is also chairman of the Weaponization subcommittee — was shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Federal Government Flagged Transactions Using Terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP’ for Financial Institutions,” the post read. “Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged.”
🚨 #BREAKING: Federal Government Flagged Transactions Using Terms like "MAGA" and "TRUMP" for Financial Institutions
Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged. pic.twitter.com/zOJzfljuAG
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) January 17, 2024
The letter from the subcommittee and the House Judiciary Committee revealed that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is a bureau of President Joe Biden’s Department of Treasury, pushed financial institutions to “comb through” customers’ transactions for mentions of these search terms in the wake of the January 6 Capitol protests.
According to the letter, House Republicans have obtained documents confirming that following the protests, FinCEN “distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.”
In a “prior FinCEN analysis,” the bureau warned financial institutions about supposed “‘extremism’ indicators” — including “transportation changes, 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,” Jordan declared, “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.”
The Judiciary Committee and Weaponization subcommittee also obtained documents confirming that FinCEN had been distributing slides created by Key Bank that explain “how other financial institutions can use MCC codes to detect customers whose transactions may reflect ‘potential active shooters, [and] who may include dangerous International Terrorists / Domestic Terrorists / Homegrown Violent Extremists (‘Lone Wolves’).”
In one of those slides shared in the letter, financial institutions are shown how to search for transactions with MCC codes like “3484: Small Arms,” “5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies” and “5933: Pawn Shops.”
These MCC codes’ keywords included massive chain stores often frequented by conservatives, such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, along with gun manufacturers including Browning, Glock and Sig Sauer.
Jordan went on to tell Noah Bishoff, a former FinCEN official and the recipient of the letter, that he needed to appear before the committee for a transcribed interview.
“As the former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division, you engaged regularly with financial institutions following the events of January 6, 2021, including the distribution of material about how financial institutions could use private customer information to assist federal law enforcement,” Jordan wrote.
“As such, your testimony will aid our oversight. In particular, your testimony will help to inform the Committee and Select Subcommittee about federal law enforcement’s mass accumulation and use of Americans’ private information without legal process; FinCEN’s protocols, if any, to safeguard Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights in the receipt and use of such information,” he added.
