Feds Illegally Surveilled All Of Us

As if American citizens needed any more proof of just how biased, politically motivated and out of control the federal government has become since President Joe Biden took office, a recently released report by the House Judiciary Committee detailed shocking and outrageous abuses of federal authority. These were apparently designed to stifle free speech and illegally surveil law-abiding citizens and organizations, particularly in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol. The House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weapon iza tion of the Federal Government was established early last year to investigate flagrant abuses of federal power and investigatory priorities. It released a damning report in early March detailing “alarming evidence of federal law enforcement engaging in broad financial surveillance and prying into the private transactions of American consumers,” a press release from the subcommittee noted as the 56-page report was published. The dragnet surveillance program “targeted terms and transactions related to core political and religious expressions protected by the Constitution” the press release explained, an outrageous invasion of the privacy of law-abiding citizens not accused of committing any actual crimes. Indeed, the surveillance program was “not predicated on specific evidence of criminal conduct,” the report states. Rather, the operation appears to have been designed to specifically target “Americans with conservative viewpoints or Second Amendment interests.” According to reporting from The Washington Times, the federal government even issued a list of socalled “hate groups” to American financial institutions as part of its surveillance program, a list which included numerous mainstream conservative organizations such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, Liberty Counsel, the Pacific Justice Institute, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Unsurprisingly, the federal government based its list of “hate groups” from information and reporting from blatantly biased left-wing political advocacy groups based in London, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Global Disinformation Index. The federal government regularly relies on biased, anti-American organizations such as the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, the Global Disinformation Index, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Anti-Defamation League to target conservatives, Christians, and America-first patriots. This increasingly encompasses more and more U.S. citizens of all political persuasions who are critical of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. “Federal law enforcement, including the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the C, facilitated multiple backchannel discussions with financial institutions to gather Americans’ private financial information,” the press release explains. It went on to say:  These discussions involved some of the largest financial institutions in the United States, such as Barclays, U.S. Bank, Charles Schwab, HSBC, Bank of America, PayPal, and many others. Tactics included keyword filtering of transactions, targeting terms like “MAGA” and “Trump,” as well as purchases of books, religious texts, firearms- related items, and recreational stores like Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shop, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.  The subcommittee’s report also argued that federal authorities view American citizens expressing opposition to liberal policies, including open borders, firearm restrictions, lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, and vaccine passports and mandates, as potential domestic terrorists. Opponents or critics of the Deep State in general and the Biden administration in particular were also lumped into that category, revealing how tyrannical federal authorities have become under the current Democratic leadership. Republicans and conservative critics of the Biden administration and the Democratic establishment have long argued that Democrats have wea ponized the rule of law and justice system to systematically target their political opposition. As the “Twitter Files” demonstrated, the federal government colludes with or dictates to private sector actors, including the nation’s leading social media platforms and financial institutions, specific ways to target their political opposition. This is done in the name of combatting “domestic extremism” and “disinformation,” euphemisms for critics of the Biden administration and narratives promoted by federal authorities and mainstream media outlets. “The pattern of financial surveillance uncovered in the report raises serious concerns about federal law enforcement’s and financial institutions’ commitment to respecting Americans’ privacy rights and fundamental civil liberties,” the subcommittee’s revealing report concluded. The question that remains is how and when those responsible for such apparent egregious violations of the U.S. Constitution will be held account able for their crimes.

By: Jewel Staite

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