Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Bank of America as part of an investigation into whether the financial institution shared sensitive data on people connected to the January 6 riots with the FBI. According to the congressman, who almost became speaker of the House, federal agencies should not have "carte blanche" to access citizens' private information just because they are considered suspicious.
Jordan wrote a letter to the bank's CEO Brian Moynihan, reminding him that he had not provided him with all the documents requested by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Yesterday, @Weaponization subpoenaed Bank of America for sharing private financial data of customers with the FBI.
In 2021, BoA provided the FBI—voluntarily and without any legal process—with a list of individuals who made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area…
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 17, 2023
"Documents obtained by the Committee and Select Subcommittee show that the FBI also provided BoA with specific search query terms, indicating that the FBI was "interested in all financial relationships" of BoA customers transacting in Washington D.C. and that had made "ANY historical purchase" of a firearm, or those who had purchased a hotel, Airbnb, or airline travel within a given date range," the Republican wrote in the letter.
"As a result, it is unclear what "legal" process permits the FBI or BoA to share the sensitive customer information of potentially thousands of BoA customers and implicate them in a federal law enforcement investigation without any clear criminal nexus." "It should not be the case that federal law enforcement has carte blanche access to Americans' financial information by deeming a transaction or class of transactions as 'suspicious' or otherwise," he added.
According to Jordan, the FBI asked Bank of America for financial data from the people who were in the Washington DC area around January 6, 2021. The congressman said this was done "without any legal process." The congressman stated that the FBI received a list of all the people who made purchases in DC and surrounding areas on that date.
The ongoing investigation into Bank of America's cooperation with the FBI is part of House Republicans' investigation into the "politicization of federal government agencies."
