Testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was cornered about why her agency demanded private banking institutions flag and turn over data on purchases made by Americans without a warrant. More specifically at stores like Bass Pro Shop, Cabela's and purchases of religious texts -- including the Bible.
"Has Treasury ... instructed financial institutions to search Americans' legal transactions in attempts to surveil their purposes?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 6, 2024
Biden Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen dodges — three times in a row. pic.twitter.com/oTy3u4PGdi
In January the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government revealed that federal law enforcement improperly flagged purchases and words for monitoring or reporting.
We now know the federal government flagged terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP,” to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 17, 2024
What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop. pic.twitter.com/jjRaVNItWz
In recent years the FBI has improperly conducted hundreds-of-thousands of searches and surveillance on American citizens without warrants.
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