HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZED THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO SPY ON AMERICANS

Armstrong Economics ^ | 13 Dec 24 | Martin Armstrong

[delta7]

HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZED THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO SPY ON AMERICANS Posted Dec 13, 2024 By Martin Armstrong |

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A Congressional investigation committee released an extremely concerning report this week entitled: “FINANCIAL SURVEILLANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZED THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO SPY ON AMERICANS” that details how the US government has been monitoring American citizens through bank transactions, with an emphasis on citizens who have expressed conservative viewpoints.

“Financial data can tell a person’s story, including one’s “religion, ideology, opinions, and interests” as well as one’s “political leanings, locations, and more,”’ the report begins. This investigation began after a whistleblower who happens to be a retired FBI agent alerted Congress that the Bank of America (BoA) voluntarily provided the Biden Administration information on customers who used a credit or debit card in Washington, D.C., around the January 6 protests.

The new report has revealed that federal agencies have been working “hand-in-glove with financial institutions, obtaining virtually unchecked access to private financial data and testing out new methods and new technology to continue the financial surveillance of American citizens.”

Surveilence

As I’ve said countless times, “money laundering” is ALWAYS the excuse for why the government must track and monitor our financial transactions. The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) E-Filing System is a system for financial institutions to file reports required by the BSA electronically.

By law, the BSA requires businesses to keep records and file reports to help prevent and detect money laundering. This is how the Biden Administration is attempting to disregard privacy and weaponize financial institutions.

US intelligence agencies searched through records for terms like “Trump” and “MAGA” to target Americans who they believed may hold “extremist” views. The agencies searched for Americans who purchased religious texts, such as the Bible, and also labeled them extremists.

Anyone expressing disdain for the COVID lockdowns, vaccines, open borders, or the deep state were placed on a watchlist. Again, the BSA was used as a premise to pull transactions placed by the individuals on this list.

Debanking

As explained by the investigative committee:

“With narrow exception, federal law does not permit law enforcement to inquire into financial institutions’ customer information without some form of legal process. 9 The FBI circumvents this process by tipping off financial institutions to “suspicious” individuals and encouraging these institutions to file a SAR—which does not require any legal process—and thereby provide federal law enforcement with access to confidential and highly sensitive information.

10 In doing so, the FBI gets around the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which, per the Treasury Department, specifies that “it is . . . a bank’s responsibility” to “file a SAR whenever it identifies ‘a suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation’”

11 While at least one financial institution requested legal process from the FBI for information it was seeking,

12 all too often the FBI appeared to receive no pushback. In sum, by providing financial institutions with lists of people that it views as generally “suspicious” on the front end, the FBI has turned this framework on its head and contravened the Fourth Amendment’s requirements of particularity and probable cause.”

Under this premise, anyone who held a viewpoint that opposed the Biden Administration was considered a “suspicious” individual who required monitoring. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network created a database to carefully watch potential dissenters.

Over 14,000 government employees accessed the FinCEN database last year and conducted over 3 million searches without a warrant. In fact, over 15% of FBI investigations during 2023 has some link to this database. It is estimated that 4.6 million SARs and 20.8 million Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) were filed in the last year.

The committee noted that the government is incorporating AI to quickly search the web for “suspicious” Americans:

“As the Committee and Select Subcommittee have discussed in other reports, the growth and expansion of AI present major risks to Americans’ civil liberties.

211 For example, the Committee and Select Subcommittee uncovered AI being used to censor “alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the 2020 election . . . .”

212 Those concerns are not hypothetical. Some AI systems developed by Big Tech companies have been programmed with biases; for example, Google’s Gemini AI program praised liberal views while refusing to do the same for conservative views, despite claiming to be “objective” and “neutral.” With financial institutions seemingly adopting AI solutions to monitor Americans’ transactions, a similarly biased AI program could result in the systematic flagging or censoring of transactions that the AI is trained to view as “suspicious.”

This is extremely troubling and goes beyond government overreach and violated numerous Constitutional protections. The government effectively transformed banking institutions into spy agencies, and anyone who could potentially hold a view that did not fit the Biden-Harris agenda has been treated as potential terrorist.

It is completely insane that someone could be seen as an extremist for purchasing a religious text or purchasing a firearm. This is discriminatory, predatory behavior that puts millions of lives at risk. Think of governments in the past who have rounded up names of dissenters based on religion or ideology. They claim they are merely observing us, but the goal is to silence us.

The committee said their investigation has just begun as they will not allow the government’s abuse of financial data to go unchecked.

Furthermore, they are concerned that these warrantless searches can lead to widespread debanking practices where the government can easily block any dissenter from participating in society by crippling them financially.

This is yet another reason why governments want to push banks to create CBDC so that they can punish citizens with a simple click of a button.

[delta7]

So where is the outrage? Not much mentioned by our MSM. Question is, can Trump stop the targeting? or will he be instrumental ( unknowingly?) in creating a cashless system ( CBDC) in the US…..his “ interest” in cashless E money has me suspicious.

Do remember his last term he stated Bitcoin ( and E money) was just thin air…now a 180 degree turn…..

[Responsibility2nd]

Cryptocurrency was once unregulated by the US government. But slowly and overtime, more and more regulatory agencies have now got their dirty hands into that industry.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Not just spy on Americans. Debank Americans that they disagree with politically.

[HonorInPa]

Congressional committees are constantly finding this kind of abuse of power, but no one ever seems to be held accountable.
No jail terms, loss of jobs, cutoff of funds - nothing. Doing nothing, to me, signals tacit approval.

[Responsibility2nd]

In the United States, several regulatory agencies oversee cryptocurrency, each with distinct roles:
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Oversees cryptocurrencies considered as securities, focusing on trading and investment activities.
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): Regulates digital commodities and derivatives, such as futures contracts.
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): Enforces anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for crypto exchanges under the Bank Secrecy Act.
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Manages taxation of cryptocurrencies as property.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Addresses fraud and consumer protection issues related to cryptocurrencies

[faithhopecharity]

you know there are abour a dozen other ways to launder money and any really serious criminal or foreign agent will never attempt to do it thru the American banking system which has always been trace-able anyways

this ‘weaponization’ of the USA banking system is primarily directed and impacting American citizens (and it appears from the press accounts, as a tool of political oppression)

[bitt]

p

[frnewsjunkie]

The rabid left does one thing...congress is too weak to even comment, let alone vote no. Then the left does another and another.. WHEN IS IT TREASON? to sell out my country ... to give billions.. BILLIONS! WHY?

[eyeamok]

I have been on an all cash diet for many many years precisely because I don’t want to leave an electronic trail for everything I do.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Crypto currency is just a belief in the value of it. It could all evaporate tomorrow as if it never existed. That doesn’t mean that I would not have bought bitcoin when it was 4 for a penny in 2009.

[rlmorel]

From the article:

"...As explained by the investigative committee:

With narrow exception, federal law does not permit law enforcement to inquire into financial institutions’ customer information without some form of legal process. The FBI circumvents this process by tipping off financial institutions to “suspicious” individuals and encouraging these institutions to file a SAR—which does not require any legal process—and thereby provide federal law enforcement with access to confidential and highly sensitive information. In doing so, the FBI gets around the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which, per the Treasury Department, specifies that “it is . . . a bank’s responsibility” to “file a SAR whenever it identifies ‘a suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation’” While at least one financial institution requested legal process from the FBI for information it was seeking, all too often the FBI appeared to receive no pushback. In sum, by providing financial institutions with lists of people that it views as generally “suspicious” on the front end, the FBI has turned this framework on its head and contravened the Fourth Amendment’s requirements of particularity and probable cause...”

This is no inadvertent thing. The FBI no doubt identified this "loophole" and decided to exploit it in order to surveil, harass, and persecute political enemies of the Left and the Deep State.

[SaveFerris]

(“FINANCIAL SURVEILLANCE")

There will be no avoiding what is coming.

All according to plan.

You must use your Global One-World Digital Currency to shop at only "officially-approved" stores using your hand or cellphone 📱📱📱 to authorize payment.

That is all, Comrade Global Citizen.







Satan is certainly preparing the world 🌎🌍 for the debut of his Antichrist - the spirit of antichrist is empowering the godless reprobates 🐐🐐🐐

The sheep 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑 and the goats 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐 are being divided like never before.





(lurkers please click on my screen name to see my FR homepage for more information)

[SaveFerris]

I’m still pre-trib though - but this thing is building towards the day

[Executive Order 14067]

Around mid-2022, this video commercial kept popping up on my YouTube - I finally watched it - it is all about EO14067.

I hope people can take time to watch what I recommended below:

The Digital Dollar will save us! Yeah, That’s the ticket!

(worth it to watch just the first 17 minutes - there will be no way to “prosper”, though)

The Jim Rickards Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCfzQNhi_ns

[SaveFerris]

(Debank Americans that they disagree with politically.)

Yes and it reaches crescendo with the Mark of the Antichrist Beast 666 in the middle of the 7 years of ‘Peace and Security’

Rejected the False Messiah? You can’t BUY OR SELL and now they cut off your head NEXT -BUT rejoice!

---

Revelation 14:9-12
King James Version

9 And the Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the Beast and his image, and receive his Mark in his Forehead, or in his Hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the Wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the Beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the Mark of his name.

12 Here is the patience of the Saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+14%3A9-12&version=KJV

---

Revelation 20:4
King James Version

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads, or in their Hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A4&version=KJV

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[Paal Gulli]

No, your thread's title isn't any more deserving of attention that anybody else's. Mind your manners.

[delta7]

Many of us older and much wiser are not aware of internet “ manners”. I have learned some, but many older posters have not taken time to study posting etiquette.

That said, when I see those “ offenses”, I realize they are most likely to have been around the block a few times and listen.

Those over sixty have a lifetime of experience, unlike the youngsters of today whom most always don’t know what they don’t know.

[MoneyBack]

Let me remind you that this unrepentant felon Martin Armstrong has his web site quoted in his post - to scam people!

He tells you what you want to hear, to gain your trust. Then he scams you with expensive snake oil like worthless Socrates subscriptions that he sells on his blog site. He even has his own Wikipedia page:

Martin Arthur Armstrong (born November 1, 1949) is an American self-taught economic forecaster and convicted felon who spent 11 years in jail for cheating investors out of $700 million and hiding $15 million in assets from regulators