Treasury secretary skirts question about government crackdown on Trump supporters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Tuesday dodged a congressional committee’s questions about reports that the department has been working with financial institutions to crack down on the Biden administration’s political opponents.

Reports say that after January 6^th, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) — a unit within the Treasury Department — began distributing materials to payment institutions instructing them on how to identify transactions by “Homegrown Violent Extremists/Domestic Terrorists.” The documents included a list of terms that could be used as “indicators” by the financial corporations to track these transactions. Such terms included the words “MAGA,” “Trump,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods.”

FinCEN authorities also told the corporations — such as Stripe, Zelle, and commercial banks — to look for certain Merchant Category Codes (MCCs). Transactions which fell under MCCs such as “3484: Small Arms” and “5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies” were to be flagged. 

The federal government also told the payment companies to be on the lookout for certain types of transactions, which included “transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,” as well as “the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.”

These allegations were recently revealed in a letter sent by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to Noah Bishoff, who was at the time the stakeholder integration and engagement director in FinCEN’s Strategic Operations Division.

When asked about these reports in a congressional hearing Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Yellen did not deny the reports and ducked the inquiry.

“Has Treasury — including FinCEN or federal banking agencies like the Fed, FDIC, OCC — instructed financial institutions to search Americans’ legal transactions in attempts to surveil their purchases?” Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) asked Yellen.

“Well, we received the letter from you, I believe, on this topic, and we intend to investigate and to respond,” Yellen replied.

“Have you instructed banks and financial institutions to provide this information?”

“Well, FinCEN, our job is to work with financial institutions to make sure —” Yellen began to reply.

“Are they instructing financial institutions to search Americans’ legal transactions in attempts to surveil their purchases?” Wagner interrupted.

“I promise a thorough look into everything,” Yellen said.  

The Biden administration’s crackdown on its political rivals has persisted since January 6^th.

Last year Rep. Jordan sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray after learning that the FBI’s Richmond office produced an internal report titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” The document, which was heavily redacted, included a warning against “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white supremacist ideology” held by “radical-traditionalist Catholic” (RTC) Americans.

The FBI report stated that these Americans, who it believed to be “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” (RMVEs), also probably have conservative opinions on immigration and abortion.