Overview

• The House Judiciary Committee has revealed that the federal government asked banks to flag transactions involving terms such as 'Trump' and 'MAGA' as potential indicators of domestic terrorism.
• Customers who made purchases at sporting goods stores or bought religious texts were also flagged as potential 'violent extremists'.
• Transactions involving private payment apps like Zelle were also subject to surveillance.
• The federal government's actions have been criticized for infringing on Americans' constitutional rights to property, free speech, and religious exercise.
• Bank of America reportedly gave the FBI a list of customers who made credit card transactions in the D.C. area between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2021, and customers who had made any historical purchase of a firearm or had purchased a hotel, Airbnb or airline travel within a given date range.