House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Chairman Thomas Massie have launched an investigation into Bank of America after the financial giant turned over endless customer data to the FBI without a warrant or proper cause.
"The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are conducting oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its receipt of information about American citizens from private entities. An FBI whistleblower has disclosed that shortly after the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Bank of America (BoA) provided the FBI—voluntarily and without any legal process—with a list of individuals who had made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with a BoA credit or debit card between January 5 and January 7, 2021," a letter from Jordan and Massie to Bank of America CEO Bryan Moynihan states.
Bank of America gave a list to the FBI of anyone who used BofA credit/debit cards in the DC area between Jan 5-7th, 2021 - regardless of whether they participated in the events of Jan. 6th. pic.twitter.com/C0zBA1AGmy
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) May 18, 2023
"The Committee and Select Subcommittee have also heard testimony that individuals who had previously purchased a firearm with a BoA product were elevated to the top of the list regardless of when or where the purchase was made. We require your cooperation in investigating these facts," the letter continues.
According to the letter, a whistleblower revealed the list turned over was extensive, broadly targeted and potentially illegal.
"Bank of America, with no directive from the FBI, data-mined its customer base. And they data-mined a date range of 5 to 7 January [of 2021] any BOA customer who used a BOA product. And by 'BOA product,' I mean a debit card or a credit card. They compiled that list. And then, on top of that list, they put anyone who had purchased a firearm during any date. So it was a huge list," retired FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst George Hill told lawmakers.
Jordan and Massie are demanding Bank of America turn over communication about the data transfer from January 1, 2021 up until present day.
Last week it was revealed the FBI conducted nearly 300,000 illegal searches without a warrant or proper cause.
Watch: “Breaking tonight: New allegations that the FBI overstepped its authority in conducting its investigations against American citizens. And not just a few times: we’re talking in the hundreds of thousands of times” — @BretBaier pic.twitter.com/GOguzuInF8
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) May 19, 2023