Republicans on the House committee investigating the weaponization of the federal government have invited a former top-ranking Treasury Department official to a sit-down.
They want Noah Bishoff, previously the director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement within the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, to explain why the Biden administration believed people who liked former President Donald Trump and bought Bibles were to be considered terrorists.
In a letter to Bishoff on Wednesday, committee Chairman Jim Jordan asked him to appear for an interview because the panel received documents indicating that after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol FinCEN had notified financial institutions of search terms of interest to federal law enforcement.
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“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,” Jordan wrote.
“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.”
FinCEN also distributed slides, reportedly prepared by a financial institution, that explained how other financial institutions could identify “potential active shooters, [and] who may include dangerous International Terrorists / Domestic Terrorists / Homegrown Violent Extremists (‘Lone Wolves’).”
The terms financial outfits were told to look out for included “Trump,” “MAGA,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods.”
“Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus—and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights— FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors,” Jordan wrote.
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“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 doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties.”
“Your testimony, Jordan added, “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.”
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