FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that the nation’s principal federal law enforcement agency regularly obtains innocent Americans’ personal data from companies with the intent of potentially charging them with crimes.
The confession, which came during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, confirms the testimony of an FBI whistleblower who told congressional investigators earlier this year that Bank of America sent the federal law enforcement agency a “huge list” of financial records for Americans who used the bank’s credit or debit cards in close proximity to Washington D.C. around the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. It also confirms a majority of Americans’ suspicions that the FBI is being weaponized against the people it’s sworn to protect.
“George Hill, former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst in the Boston field office, told us that the Bank of America, with no legal process, gave to the FBI gun purchase records with no geographical boundaries for anybody that was a Bank of America customer. Is that true?” Republican Rep. Thomas Massie asked.
“A number of business community partners all the time, including financial institutions, share information with us about possible criminal activity, and my understanding is that that’s fully lawful,” Wray explained.
Hill told investigators that of the customers on its list, Bank of America highlighted at the top of the list those who had ever purchased a firearm with a Bank of America card.
Related Story: Whistleblowers: FBI Obtained Americans’ Bank Records Without Subpoena
