Congress subpoenas Citibank over alleged FBI collusion after January 6th

The House Judiciary Committee Thursday subpoenaed Citibank over allegedly providing the FBI with private customer data in the wake of January 6th. 

Documents obtained by the committee show that a Citibank representative was included in an email from the FBI on January 29, 2021 requesting “information sharing, both strategic and operational, related to the Capitol Riots.” Citibank employees also attended a Zoom call with the FBI ostensibly following that email.

Also included in the email was JPMorgan Chase, US Bank, Wells Fargo, HSBC, PayPal, Barclays and Bank of America.

Bank of America was revealed to have shared private customer data with the FBI following January 6th without being prompted by the bureau. The bank provided the FBI with data on its customers who made transactions in Washington, DC during those 24 hours. Customers who had previously purchased firearms were moved to the top of the list provided by Bank of America.

“These documents suggest that the executive branch was brainstorming informal methods— outside of legal process—for obtaining private customer information from financial institutions,” wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in a letter to Citibank executives. “Federal law enforcement’s use of back-channel discussions with financial institutions as a method to investigate and obtain private financial data of Americans is alarming,” 

Jordan noted that Citibank had refused to comply with earlier requests from the committee for documentation and said that it would only provide the requested documents under subpoena.

The subpoena comes as concern grows over the unchecked power wielded by banks over customers with certain political views.

In May 2022 Chase Bank abruptly closed the account belonging to the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF), a nonprofit aimed at safeguarding freedom for all religions. No transactions had raised any red flags. NCRF made some calls and discovered the decision had come from the “corporate office” and that a note in their file forbade staff from providing any clarity as to why their account was closed.

Chase eventually told NCRF that it would restore the organization’s account, but only if it divulged its donors, the political candidates it planned to support, and other unnecessary information.

In 2021 a Chase-owned credit card processor notified the pro-life organization Family Council that “we can no longer support your business” because it was considered “High Risk”. But the nonprofit met none of the qualifications for the High Risk category.

WePay, a payment gateway owned by Chase, refused service to a conservative group because it felt its views supported “hate, violence, racial intolerance, [and] terrorism”.

Also in 2021 Chase abruptly closed former Trump National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s bank account for “reputational reasons,” according to The Heritage Foundation.   

JPMorgan Chase is one of six “too-large-to-fail” banks that have been slowly becoming “financial legislatures”.

“The major banks, financial management firms, and insurance companies are de facto deciding how we will be able to live. They are becoming our new legislatures,” said New Hampshire State Rep. J.D. Bernardy.

In January, mortgage-lending giant Wells Fargo announced it will only provide new home loans to minorities as the bank prepares to step back from the mortgage market. Whites who are existing Wells Fargo customers will also be eligible for mortgages.  

Also in January, Wells Fargo suddenly closed the account of Brandon Wexler, a well-known gun dealer who had been with the bank for 25 years. The bank suggested it will no longer do business with firearms dealers when it told Wexler it was too “risky,” according to The Reload.

In 2020 Wells Fargo suddenly closed Republican Senate Candidate Lauren Witzke’s bank account without explanation.

“I think it is highly likely that within the next two years, you’re going to see financial institutions start to use a personalized social credit score of some kind to make decisions about things like your access to loans, your interest rate, or whether you’re eligible for insurance coverage,” said Heartland Institute Director Justin Haskins. “All the signs are pointing to that happening very soon,” he said. 

In October, Bank of America shut down the bank account of a popular conservative influencer and refused to provide an explanation.