OPINION:
Buying Trump-branded merchandise might put you on a watch list.
That’s according to a report released last week by the House Judiciary weaponization subcommittee. The panel caught the administration twisting anti-money laundering, or AML, statutes to spy on conservatives.
“[A]s a condition of participating in the modern economy, Americans are forced to disclose details of their private lives to a financial industry that has been too eager to pass this information along to federal law enforcement,” the congressional report stated.
Uncle Sam has meddled in financial affairs for decades — that’s not new. The politicization is unprecedented, as payment processors are now being compelled to sift through purchase records looking for search terms including “MAGA” and “Trump.”
A Treasury Department letter acknowledges that this tactic was used to build evidence against individuals who took an unsanctioned tour of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“[T]o 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,” acting Assistant Treasury Secretary Corey Tellez wrote.
Whistleblowers tipped off Congress that the feds met with executives at institutions such as Bank of America in “brainstorming” sessions, after which the FBI was handed a list of every customer who used a credit card in the District on Jan. 6.
No judge authorized the release of these data, and no notice was provided to those affected. Over time, the partnership between banks and the feds blossomed. Soon, buying a gun or a Bible became factors in the government’s profile of potential domestic extremists and terrorists.
According to congressional investigators, federal officials realized they could circumvent financial privacy laws that allow such information to be handed over only if crimes are involved. So, the G-men began “asking” the banks to voluntarily submit suspicious activity reports.
Banks complied because Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has a habit of punishing disobedient institutions. One bank was fined $185 million for failing to meet the minimum disclosure requirements, which includes reporting on any purchase over $10,000.
Over 3 million searches were performed on the data collected last year, and no warrant was needed to do so. The bureaucracy now proposes to enhance its access to records with a national digital identification system that would ensure no online transaction escapes scrutiny.
The use of artificial intelligence algorithms to create “suspicious” activity profiles automatically is also being explored. This is a troubling prospect considering the FBI’s collusion with social media companies as the pandemic took hold to suppress dissenting views about the origin of the COVID-19 virus and the effectiveness of vaccines.
The ultimate weapon against those holding disfavored opinions is to cut off their access to the modern economy. Financial institutions have already proved willing to do just that, going so far as to close former first lady Melania Trump’s bank account and block her son, Barron, from opening a new one, as Ms. Trump describes in her memoir.
Government doesn’t need such easy access to routine transactions and influence on banking decisions. Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, has a solution. His Saving Privacy Act would force state and federal agents to get a warrant before accessing private financial information. A new law shouldn’t be necessary, since that’s what the Fourth Amendment already requires.
The only way to end the misconduct is for Congress to step in and close the loopholes the administration has been exploiting.
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