Congressional Report Says Federal Government Weaponized Banks Against Conservative Groups

Religious Freedom, , ,

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report indicating the federal government weaponized banks against conservatives.

The interim report released last Wednesday cites evidence revealing:

  • After the events of January 6, 2021, federal law enforcement officials from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the FBI initiated multiple discussions with financial institutions to discuss ways financial institutions could share customer information with federal law enforcement outside of normal legal processes.
  • Law enforcement and private institutions shared intelligence through a web portal run by the Domestic Security Alliance Council — a partnership led by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
  • The U.S. Treasury Department gave banks and other financial institutions guiding “typologies” — patterns that could be used to identify suspicious people or activities — including search terms and patterns like “TRUMP” and “MAGA”, and encouraged financial institutions to comb through transactions for terms like, “Bass Pro Shops,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods” when looking for “Homegrown Violent Extremism.”
  • “Americans doing nothing other than shopping or exercising their Second Amendment rights were being tracked by financial institutions and federal law enforcement.”

The report also reveals the Treasury Department provided banks and financial institutions with an analysis titled “Bankrolling Bigotry.” This analysis listed legitimate, conservative groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, the American College of Pediatricians, American Family Association, Eagle Forum, Family Research Council, Liberty Counsel, National Organization for Marriage, and the Ruth Institute as “Hate Groups” alongside the KKK and the American Nazi Party.

The “Bankrolling Bigotry” analysis also outlines ideas on policies and laws aimed at preventing these groups from fundraising. Officials from the Treasury Department distributed this document to banks and financial institutions in January of 2021, calling it an “overview on the funding of American hate groups.”

Other outlets have reported in the past how government policies allegedly encourage banks to designate conservative organizations as posing a “high risk” or “reputational risk” — giving the banks an excuse to close their accounts.

In 2021 Family Council’s credit card processor terminated our account after designating our organization as “high risk.”

At 10:29 AM on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, our office received a terse email from our credit card processor — a company owned by JPMorgan Chase — saying, “Unfortunately, we can no longer support your business. We wish you all the luck in the future, and hope that you find a processor that better fits your payment processing needs.”

Within sixty seconds, our account was terminated and and Family Council could no longer accept donations online. All we can do is speculate that our conservative principles and our public policy work might have had something to do with the decision to close our account.

Unfortunately, other organizations have had similar experiences as well. This congressional report sheds light on how the federal government weaponized financial institutions against conservative groups.

You Can Read Entire Interim Committee Report Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Liam’s Dangerous T-Shirt: Guest Column

Religious Freedom, Transgender, ,

The First Circuit Court of Appeals will soon decide whether a public middle school can ban a student from wearing a T-shirt with the phrase “[t]here are only two genders.” Earlier this month, the Alliance Defending Freedom argued on behalf of Liam Morrison, who was sent home for wearing the shirt, while his Massachusetts school had proactively encouraged students to wear shirts with pro-LGBTQ messages during a school-imposed Pride week.  

A lawyer for the school argued that the phrase on Liam’s shirt was not merely offensive but put classmates who struggle with gender dysphoria at risk of “significant harm.” That’s an oft-made assertion these days, an assertion that poses as an argument but without evidence to back it up.  

Liam has learned a bit early about courage and what’s at stake when you stand for what is true. Pray for him. It’s not easy to be accused of evil, but more Christians will be.

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Congressional Committee Alleges Federal Government Urged Banks to Flag Purchases of Religious Books, Sporting Goods

Religious Freedom,

A congressional committee is alleging the federal government pressured banks to flag purchases of religious texts, sporting goods, and political material.

On Wednesday Congressman Jim Jordan (R — Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, sent a letter to Noah Bishoff, the former director of an office in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Evidence presented in the letter suggests the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network provided banks and other financial institutions with guiding “typologies” — patterns that could be used to identify suspicious people or activities.

According to the letter, the federal government gave banks search terms that could help flag certain transactions. These search terms and patterns included words like “TRUMP” and “MAGA”, as well as behaviors like booking travel for unclear purposes or buying “books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.”

All of this suggests that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network encouraged banks to search their customer transactions for these signs as a way of policing political and religious activity.

The letter also expresses concern that banks were encouraged to use Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) to look for terms like, “Bass Pro Shops,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods” when carrying out “Active Shooter Detection.” Despite these purchases being legal, it seems the federal government treated them as indicators of a potential threat.

Although this congressional committee letter does not get into banking practices, other outlets have reported in the past how government policies allegedly encourage banks to designate conservative organizations as posing a “high risk” or “reputational risk” — giving the banks an excuse to close their accounts.

In 2021 Family Council’s credit card processor terminated its account after designating our organization as “high risk.”

At 10:29 AM on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, our office received a terse email from our credit card processor — a company owned by JPMorgan Chase — saying, “Unfortunately, we can no longer support your business. We wish you all the luck in the future, and hope that you find a processor that better fits your payment processing needs.”

Within sixty seconds, our account was terminated and and Family Council could no longer accept donations online. All we can do is speculate that our conservative principles and our public policy work might have had something to do with the decision to close our account.

Unfortunately, other organizations have had similar experiences as well.

You Can Read Congressman Jim Jordan’s Letter Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE