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Are Liberals Using Tax Exempt Groups To Promote Terrorism?

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Image via Pixabay free images

A top congressional chairman is leaning on the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of several left-wing or Islamist organizations for actively supporting deadly Islamist terrorist activity.

The U.S. House Ways and Means announced in a statement that Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) is calling on the IRS to “revoke the tax-exempt status of multiple organizations previously referred by the Ways and Means Committee for failing to operate within their stated tax-exempt purpose.

“The letter coincide(ed) with the anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel and targets organizations with links to designated foreign terrorist groups, as well as organizations linked to violence and unrest in the United States,” the Committee reports.

“Chairman Smith previously demanded then-IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel revoke the tax-exempt status of eight organizations with ties to Hamas and terror-linked organizations, as well as entities fueling antisemitic protests on U.S. college campuses and violence in the U.S.

In the letter to the IRS, Chairman Smith wrote: “We write to request that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) prioritize examinations into the tax-exempt status of tax-exempt organizations previously referred to the IRS for revocation during the 118th Congress. In light of the anniversary of the October 2023 violent attack on Israel, along with recent acts of political violence and the continued disruptive activities of previously identified organizations that have been sowing chaos in the United States and have links to designated foreign terrorist groups, it is imperative that action is taken to ensure tax-exempt groups are operating within their tax-exempt purpose.”

Smith’s letter continues, “From the international funding sources and activities of tax-exempt entities in the U.S., and the role of certain organizations in fostering antisemitism on college campuses, the Committee has remained steadfast in ensuring that all tax-exempt organizations are abiding by their exempt status.  In September 2024, the Committee on Ways and Means (“the Committee”) sent seven letters to the IRS requesting that the IRS investigate and revoke the tax-exempt status of the referenced organizations, while also highlighting the tax-exempt organizations’ ties to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, support of illegal activity in America, and failure to operate for stated exempt purposes.  Some of the organizations, such as Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, and Islamic Relief USA, are suspected of having terrorist ties to groups like Hamas, using those ties to actively support and funnel resources in support of terrorism. Other groups like the Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, and Tides Foundation instead fiscally sponsor projects that disrupt college campuses, incite violence and intimidation, and illegal riot across the United States—prominent projects include Students for Justice in Palestine and Samidoun. Together, this evidence strongly supported referring the groups to the IRS for revocation of their tax-exempt status.”

The committee notes “organizations for which Chairman Smith is renewing referral for revocation of tax-exempt status include: Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, Islamic Relief USA, Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, Tides Foundation, Peoples Media Project (also known as The Palestine Chronicle), and The People’s Forum.”

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk. 

Foreigners Use Biden’s Open Border to Commit Crime in US

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Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – News coverage of Joe Biden’s border disaster has dropped considerably since the drama surrounding the end of Title 42 faded. But we still have a border crisis. 

Not only is the border still effectively open, but foreign criminal elements are taking full advantage of it.

And it’s not just Mexican drug cartels.

The expected tsunami of illegal border crossers never fully materialized once Biden allowed Title 42 to expire, partly because Team Biden had already let in so many, and because it more effectively pushed through others without the mobs piling up at the border. 

The drug cartels, human traffickers, and migrants themselves, also began considering new strategies to enter the United States and operate here with impunity.

Foreign criminal groups have been at the forefront of exploiting Biden’s chaotic open border. It is well-documented that Mexican drug cartels control certain border regions.

But it’s not just cartels from Mexico that are coming through undaunted. Criminal gangs from El Salvador, such as MS-13 have been known to operate lucrative and deadly cross-border criminal operations.

And now we are hearing about Romanian mobsters infesting America.

According to the Daily Caller: “Romanian migrants in the country illegally, some of whom are known to have crossed the southern border, are suspected of crimes across the country, according to internal law enforcement alerts…” 

The Caller added:

The law enforcement alerts, which span from Florida to Pennsylvania and New York, warn of Romanians who are suspected of financial crimes and are known to be in the country illegally, and have deportation orders. Border Patrol recorded 5,895 encounters of Romanian migrants in fiscal year 2022 at the southern border, up from … 266 in fiscal year 2020.

The huge influx of Romanians appears to be organized and they focus on defrauding Americans. One senior Border Patrol official told the Daily Caller that many of them have criminal histories that mainly include theft, larceny, fraud, and domestic violence when they’re arrested.

And it’s often a family affair.

“They all have criminal records when they show up. Rarely single adults. They usually show up in family units…” explained the Border Patrol official, adding: “it’s a pain in the ass to get approval for family separation, so that we can house, prosecute the offender.”

“They all claim asylum/credible fear, just like everyone else. Hoping that we’ll process them and release them to the NGOs,” the official added.

Once inside the U.S. they fan out and operate nationwide.

The Caller continued:

In April, Florida law enforcement stopped a vehicle with two Romanian nationals they discovered were in the U.S. illegally who allegedly possessed “fraudulent passports, fraudulent credit cards, $4,000 in U.S. currency, covert cameras concealed to hide (for possible ATM PIN harvesting), (3) skimming devices, a thumb drive, and an ATM pin pad cling device,” an official alert stated.

A device seized from the vehicle allegedly possessed bank information of “thousands of victims.”

An international law enforcement alert in February warned of three Romanians with “open cases with ICE for deportation.” They were allegedly installing credit card “skimming devices” in Pennsylvania Walmart self-checkouts.

So next time your identity is stolen, your credit card hacked, or your bank account emptied, the criminals who did it may just be Romanians who entered the country illegally under Biden.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

White House Deputy Chief Of Staff Announces Birth Of Fourth Child

By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54346096651/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=160407812

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his wife, Katie Miller, have welcomed their fourth child, adding another member to one of the most prominent families in the Trump administration.

While details surrounding the birth have remained private, congratulations quickly poured in from friends, colleagues, and supporters celebrating the newest addition to the Miller family.

With four children now keeping the household busy, Miller may find that negotiating Capitol Hill is easier than negotiating bedtime.

The news also comes during what seems to be an ongoing White House baby boom.

Just last month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt welcomed her second child, daughter Viviana “Vivi” Riccio, with husband Nicholas Riccio. Leavitt announced the joyful arrival on social media, sharing that her family’s hearts had “instantly exploded with love” after welcoming their baby girl.

Leavitt’s son, Niko, was promoted to big brother, while the youngest press secretary in American history has temporarily stepped away from the briefing room to enjoy life in the newborn bubble.

Now, the Miller family is celebrating a similar milestone.

For all the attention Washington places on politics, moments like these offer a reminder that many of the administration’s most recognizable faces are also parents juggling diapers, school schedules, and family responsibilities alongside their public duties.

In fact, supporters have increasingly noted that President Trump’s team includes a number of young families raising children while serving in high-pressure government roles. Whether it’s Leavitt balancing motherhood and press briefings or the Millers welcoming their fourth child, family life remains a central part of the Trump administration’s story.

As the Miller family settles into life with its newest member, supporters across the country are sending their congratulations and best wishes.

From all of us, congratulations to Stephen and Katie Miller on their newest blessing.

Biden NSC Spokesman Drops Israeli War ‘Truth Bomb’ On Lefty Reporters

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ANALYSIS – As most of my readers know, I’m not a big fan of Joe Biden, or any of his lefty White House minions. This includes retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, the oftentimes Democrat hack, previously Pentagon press secretary, and currently coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council (NSC).

Watching this former senior military officer try to spin ridiculous and dangerous Biden foreign and defense policies is often stomach churning.

But, if nothing else, I try to be fair and honest, and can applaud my opponents when they occasionally get something right.

And this time Kirby not only got things right, but he surprisingly dropped a major ‘truth bomb.’ And even Biden played a part.

On Wednesday Biden correctly responded to a lefty reporter’s loaded question about Israel causing civilian casualties in Gaza by saying he can’t trust the civilian casualty numbers disseminated by the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas. They are, essentially, terrorist propaganda.

In his response the elderly Biden referred to Hamas as “the Palestinians,” but it’s clear what who was talking about.

“What they say to me is I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” Biden said. 

“But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

And that was spot on. The figures coming from Palestinian Hamas officials in Gaza are worse than worthless, they are lies.

Biden’s accurate observation was followed on Thursday by a question from another lefty reporter asking Kirby if Biden would apologize for his remarks since they had angered the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who called his comments “shocking and dehumanizing.”

Referring to Biden’s remarks, the reporter asked Kirby:

Don’t you think it is insensitive? There [is] very harsh criticism about it. For example, the Council of American-Islamic Relations said it was deeply disturbed and called on the president to apologize. Would the president apologize, and does he regret saying something like that?

To provide some background here, we need to note that while CAIR pretends to be a Muslim human rights group, it often traffics in anti-Jewish rhetoric. 

CAIR’s Executive Director has claimed that ‘Zionist organizations’ in the U.S. are “enemies of the Muslim community” and that “Zionist organizations make up the core of the Islamophobia network in the United States.” 

He has also used the trope that pro-Israel groups have “corrupted” the U.S. government and that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist. It’s really just another front group for promoting Islamism and antisemitism in the U.S.

So, it was refreshing to hear Kirby provide the biased reporter a firm and simple “no,” Biden won’t apologize.

Kirby then dropped the major ‘truth bomb’ about the Israeli-Hamas conflict. As Blaze Media reported:

“What’s harsh is the way Hamas is using people as human shields. What’s harsh is taking a couple of hundred hostages and leaving families anxious, waiting, and worrying to figure out where their loved ones are. What’s harsh is dropping in on a music festival and slaughtering a bunch of young people just trying to enjoy an afternoon,” he said.

“That’s what’s harsh. And being honest about the fact that there have been civilian casualties — and that there likely will be more — is being honest, because that’s what war is. It’s brutal. It’s ugly. It’s messy,” he continued. “I’ve said that before. President also said that yesterday. Doesn’t mean we have to like it. And it doesn’t mean that we’re dismissing any one of those casualties — each and every one is a tragedy in its own right.”

Kirby, moreover, revealed that the U.S. government is helping Israel minimize civilian casualties but highlighted how Hamas is making that difficult.

“It would be helpful if Hamas would let [Gazan civilians] leave,” he pointed out. “We know that there are thousands waiting to leave Gaza writ large, and Hamas is preventing them from doing it. That is what is harsh.”

BOOM! That truth bomb was a direct hit and must have caused some casualties among the leftist press corps. Well done, Admiral Kirby. Now can you tell the truth about Iran, the border, etc., etc.?

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Trump Indicted Again – This One Could Be Serious

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

ANALYSIS – Donald Trump has been wrongly persecuted since he was elected president in 2016. From the 4-year long Hillary Clinton-manufactured ‘Russia collusion’ hoax, to corrupt investigations, to ‘deep state ‘resistance’ within his administration, to a partisan impeachment — no president has been so unfairly hounded in U.S. history.

And now, we have the multiple indictments against him, including the ones for poor bookkeeping in the Stormy Daniels nonsense, and the “I can’t remember exactly when it happened, but Trump raped me 30 years ago” case of E. Jean Carrol.

We have seen a lot of proverbial ‘stuff’ thrown at this Republican leader. Most of it stinks of political persecution. Few of it has stuck. And I have defended him through much of it.

But the latest federal criminal indictments are different. Yes, they are, of course, politicized. 

The Department of Justice (DoJ) under the thumb of a president from the other party, and an opponent in the next election, accusing an ex-president of federal crimes, can’t be anything but political.

And that will hold a lot of sway, especially with Republican voters.

Still, these latest indictments are far more serious and dangerous for Trump.

I have previously argued that Trump brought the Mar-a-Lago classified documents charges onto himself. 

In part he did this by not turning over the sensitive materials when requested, by bragging about having them, by claiming he declassified them, and by jerking federal investigators around for 18 months.

Trump basically dared them to come after him. And they obliged. First by raiding his Mar-a-Lago home. Then, by indicting him.

Neither Joe Biden, nor Mike Pence did these things when they were found to have classified materials in their possession. They just turned them over.

Note – Trump was not charged for any materials he did return earlier in the process. He could have avoided the entire legal ordeal had he just returned all the classified documents, instead of hiding them in bathrooms.

Those charges carry real jail time; if they stick, and a Florida jury convicts him. Those are two big ‘ifs.’

But Donald Trump now faces new criminal charges for the fourth time in five months, arising from efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

In total, Trump faces 78 criminal counts. Any one of them can land the ex-president in federal prison. 

The federal crimes with which Justice Department prosecutors have now charged the former president involve three conspiracies; conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct certification of the Electoral College vote and Conspiracy Against Rights.

Trump was also charged with obstruction. All can carry prison time if convicted.

Conspiracy to Defraud the United States makes it a crime for two or more people to “conspire either to commit any offence against the United States or to defraud the United States” or any federal agency and for one of them to perform some action that would affect the object of the conspiracy, which carries a fine or maximum prison sentence of five years if convicted.

Obstruction of an Official Proceeding criminalizes “obstructing, influencing, or impeding any official proceeding” or attempting to do so, which is punishable by a fine or up to 20 years in prison.

Obstruction charges relate to Trump’s alleged attempts to block Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote. The January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building postponed the vote count.

According to the New York Times, he isn’t the only charged in these conspiracies:

The indictment identified six individuals as co-conspirators in Trump’s effort to overturn the election, but none of those people were charged Tuesday. Though the alleged co-conspirators were not named, the descriptions correspond to a cabal of Trump lawyers who embraced increasingly fringe strategies as Trump’s bid to remain in power faltered. They include Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell.

Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon for an initial court appearance before a magistrate judge. 

He is expected to plead not guilty.

However, unlike the classified materials case in Florida, where a Trump appointed judge is in charge, this time Trump’s case has been initially ‘randomly’ assigned to U.S. District Court Tanya Chutkan, an Obama-appointed judge who has been among the harshest critics of Jan. 6 defendants.

She appears anything but fair-minded.

As I said, political, or not – these indictments could be very serious.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Texas GOP Governor Declares Border Invasion, Again – What Next?

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ANALYSIS – The Biden border crisis just gets worse every day, with no help at all from the White House. 

And now that a federal court has invalidated Trump’s Title 42 C*VID regulation forcing would-be asylum seekers to remain in Mexico, expect a massive new illegal migrant surge.

Much of that surge and chaos is seen along the border with Texas which takes the brunt of the migrant onslaught.

In response, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he is invoking the U.S. Constitution’s invasion clause and taking “unprecedented measures” to repel a “border invasion.”

https://twitter.com/josephanunn/status/1592639277590249474

Abbott also sent out a press release and a letter to county officials along the border.

Abbott’s declaration comes one week after he won a third four-year term as governor. Former Trump administration officials had been urging the governors of Arizona and Texas to declare an “invasion” to justify more aggressive measures to stem the illegal migrant tide.

Infuriating his partisan critics and open border advocates, the Governor can expect severe legal pushback.

The question is – can he win?

As the American Bar Association Journal notes:

The invasion clause is in Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution.

It provides: “No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state or with a foreign power or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.”

Abbott said he will deploy the National Guard to “repel and turn back” immigrants trying to enter the country illegally. He will also deploy the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest and return to the border immigrants who came into the country illegally.

Abbott also plans to build a border wall in multiple counties, deploy gun boats, enter into a compact with other states to secure the border, and “enter into agreements with foreign powers to enhance border security.”

Abbott first authorized the National Guard and Texas police to act in July, directing them to return immigrants to ports of entry. He also referenced the invasion clause at the time.

However, Abbott has yet to issue a formal invasion declaration or official order. 

His office has not published such a declaration through an official news release or on the governor’s website, which means he has not yet gone much beyond his actions and declarations in July. 

National security expert and Navy JAG Jonathan Hullihan told The Center Square that if Abbott had invoked his constitutional authority on Tuesday, “he would have done so in an official document, not from a personal Twitter account.” 

Hence “No document, no order.” 

And critics question its legality. The ABA notes:

Nunn said Abbott’s actions were actually “a thinly veiled effort to take the reins on U.S. immigration policy.” But that would also be unconstitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedent holding that immigration policy is “unquestionably” and “exclusively” a federal power, Nunn said.

“For all these reasons, the Biden administration would likely succeed in court if it sued to stop Abbott from carrying out his plans,” Nunn concluded.

But others see this as a well-played political move putting Team Biden in a position it can’t win.

“We’re literally talking about state officials doing the same exact thing that federal officials do with Title 42,” said Ken Cuccinelli, a senior fellow at the conservative nonprofit organization Center for Renewing America.

And as the Washington Examiner reports:

“He’s [Abbott] run Operation Lone Star and kept your National Guard up and running for a show. He knows it doesn’t do anything,” said Cuccinelli, adding that the state could win a battle in federal court. 

“If you’re the federal government and you sue Texas over it … they have to prove there is not an invasion, and they have the burden of proof because they’re the plaintiff in the case. Good luck proving that today with the state of the border. I don’t think it could be done.”

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Amanda Head: The Gloves Are Off!

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Nothing will be the same…

On Thursday, a grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation into Trump’s alleged hush money bribe to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Amanda Head: Disney Stocks Tank Again!

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Yikes.

Disney has faced quite a tumultuous year after wading into politics and siding with the woke gender mob.

Watch Amanda break down the latest controversy below:

China Raids US Corporate Due Diligence Firm in Beijing – Retaliation or Crackdown?

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Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

ANALYSIS – The communist regime in China raided a private U.S. investigations company’s office in Beijing on March 20. 

This brazen, and likely unlawful, act against the New York-based due diligence firm, the Mintz Group, follows the FBI raid last fall of an illegal Chinese overseas ‘police station’ in New York City.

And some see it as a heavy-handed, and non-symmetrical retaliation.

But the raid in Beijing is also likely tied to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s draconian security crackdown on the information inside China.

“Red alerts should be going off in all boardrooms right now about risks in China,” said one source in the New York Post.

The same U.S. business person also said that the Mintz Group raid sent a “remarkable signal” that Beijing will suck up foreign money and technology but won’t accept credible U.S. firms conducting research and investigations on Chinese partners or the country’s business environment.

Reuters reported that the company confirmed that “Chinese authorities have detained the five staff in Mintz Group’s Beijing office, all of them Chinese nationals, and have closed our operations there.”

The detained employees are reportedly being held somewhere outside Beijing. The company has not been able to contact the employees since they were detained.

Unlike the official police status of the Chinese outposts raided in NYC, the Mintz Group is a purely private company.

The firm describes itself as “a corporate investigations firm that gathers information before hiring, before transactions, during litigation disputes and after frauds, all over the world.”

According to its website, the company has over 450 investigators in 18 offices worldwide, but its Beijing office is the only one in mainland China. It has a second office in Hong Kong.

It also does background checks, asset tracing, and fraud and corruption investigations for businesses planning acquisitions or other large investments. 

This corporate mission will likely be used by Chinese authorities to accuse the company of being spies.

And it wouldn’t be the first time western due diligence companies have gotten into trouble with Chinese authorities. 

British corporate investigator Peter Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng, who ran a risk advisory firm, ChinaWhys, were detained in 2013 for work they did for a giant British pharmaceutical firm.

They spent two years in jail.

But there is an added twist to this latest raid.

While there may not be a direct link, the New York Post reported that: “Randal Phillips, a partner at the firm [Mintz Group] who heads its Asia operations but is based outside of China, is listed on its website as the Central Intelligence Agency’s former chief representative in China. Phillips worked in Beijing for years after leaving the CIA.”

Even though the raid can be seen as a response to the FBI raid against Beijing’s illegal NYC police outpost, one of 100 stations around the world, the additional motive is also clear. 

As the New York Times reports:

…the move [also] highlighted the risks that firms involved in due diligence face in China as Xi Jinping, the country’s top leader, has repeatedly called for a greater emphasis on security and has tightened the ruling Communist Party’s grip on information.

The firm stated that it “has not received any official legal notice regarding a case against the company and has requested that the authorities release its employees.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, reported the Wall Street Journal, the Mintz Group raid is putting foreign companies in China on alert just as the country hosts an international economic conclave called the ‘China Development Forum’ set for this weekend.

The high-profile event is expected to be attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ray Dalio, who founded the world’s biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, and other top executives.

According to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, with increasing tensions between the U.S. and China, U.S. businesses already operating in China are increasingly pessimistic about their prospects.

Maybe this latest Chinese act will make more U.S. firms think twice about investing there.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Biden Admin. Caught Spying On Trump Supporters’ EventBrite GoFundMe Pages

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Image via Pixabay free images.

In a disturbing expansion of the Biden White House’s illicit monitoring of political dissidents, federal authorities quietly sent letters to the operators of crowdfunding sites asking for private financial information on pages that used terms associated with Republicans, conservatism and former President Donald Trump.

In response, and to determine the extent of Biden administration’s wrongdoing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has sent his own letter to Eventbrite and GoFundMe “requesting documents and communications between federal agencies, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”

A statement from the Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government announced they are “conducting oversight of financial surveillance of American citizens, including the tracking and monitoring of private financial records in coordination with federal law enforcement.”

According to the Judiciary Committee:

The federal government, through FinCEN, urged large financial institutions to comb through their customers’ private transactions and report charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression. The Committee and Select Subcommittee have uncovered how the FBI worked with Bank of America to gather private financial data of Americans. Congress has an important interest in protecting Americans’ privacy and First Amendment activity. Documents obtained by the Committee and Select Subcommittee raise the prospect that Eventbrite and GoFundMe may have been in communication with FinCEN or other federal law-enforcement agencies about activity on Eventbrite and GoFundMe’s platform. 

Excerpts of the letter to Eventbrite read:

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents showing that following the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outlined the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provided financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement, ostensibly to aid in investigations. These materials included a document recommending that financial institutions ‘search Zelle payment messages’ using  generic terms like ‘TRUMP,’ ‘MAGA,’ ‘America First,’ ‘PELOSI,’ ‘PENCE,’ ‘SCHUMER,’ as well as a document reflecting a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators.’ According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, the federal government, through FinCEN, urged large financial institutions to comb through their customers’ private transactions and report charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.

“In addition, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents showing that on January 18, 2021, FinCEN emailed financial institutions a list of ‘crowdfunding sites’ that included Eventbrite, GoFundMe, and Anedot, among others, and explained how financial institutions could use a ‘transaction reference’ to identify customers making certain transactions on crowdfunding sites. For example, in the email, FinCEN alerted financial institutions to customers’ use of Eventbrite, noting that ‘people have been observed using this site to post an event and sell tickets including bus tickets to the demonstrations.’ FinCEN noted how ‘Card Purchase[s]’ to events are findable using ‘the transaction reference ‘EB [the EVENT] with the phone number’ and detailed how individuals who purchased tickets to events in support of President Trump could be identified using the transaction reference, ‘EB MARCH FOR TR 801413720.’ FinCEN also provided a second method for identifying individuals using transaction references, writing: ‘[y]ou may see a Card Purchase with the transaction reference in the following format . . . [a Message or like a cause or candidate] with the phone number in the following format . . . .’ 

“Despite these transactions having no apparent nexus to criminal activity—and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with federal law enforcement, without legal process, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the federal government’s potential abuses of Americans’ fundamental civil liberties.”

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.