Judicial Watch Inc. has filed an appeal against the FBI’s refusal to release documents related to customer banking data provided to the bureau as part of “what appears to be an unprecedented abuse of the financial privacy of thousands of Americans.”
As part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, Judicial Watch had been seeking “all records of communication” between the FBI and financial institutions, that include Bank of America, Chase Manhattan Bank, Discover, American Express, and others.
Judicial Watch said there is “substantial and compelling evidence” that the FBI sought and received account data from financial institutions, possibly for everyone who used a credit or debit card in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia, on Jan. 5–6, 2021.
In a news release, Judicial Watch cited one example of the FBI obtaining a man’s address through his Bank of America account and recent transactions on the travel website Expedia.
In another case, the FBI said it obtained records from PNC Bank and in court filings “discusses in detail the multiple ways that it used the financial data.”
The FBI records sweep was believed to be exceptionally broad, Judicial Watch said, including “anyone who used a credit card or engaged in other transactions in the Washington D.C. area before and during the massive protest and subsequent rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.”
The FBI previously told Judicial Watch and the U.S. District that it neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such records.
“We want the details on what looks to be an unprecedented abuse of the financial privacy of countless innocent Americans by big banks and the FBI,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement.
Jan. 6 Investigations
The appeal is part of Judicial Watch’s expanding Jan. 6 investigation.The agency filed suit against U.S. Capitol Police, seeking the release of what could be up to 16,000 hours of security and other videos from the Capitol grounds on the day of the violent breach.
The USCP has argued that the videos and emails sought by Judicial Watch are not public records, there is no public interest in their release, and “sovereign immunity” shields the department from legal efforts to compel their release.
In 2021, Judicial Watch released more than 1,000 pages of police and medical examiner records on the shooting death of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6.
The public-accountability group sued for the records under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
“She was shot and killed under color of authority by an officer who violated not only the law but his oath and committed an arrestable offense,” Kephart said in “The Real Story of Jan. 6,” a 2022 documentary by The Epoch Times.
It is not clear how Byrd came to be placed in secret housing at the military base.