WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Citibank for documents and communications related to the Judiciary Committee's and Weaponization Select Subcommittee's investigation into major banks sharing Americans’ private financial data with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) without legal process for transactions made in the Washington, D.C., area around Jan. 6, 2021.
On June 12, 2023, the Committee wrote to financial institutions, including Citibank, requesting voluntary cooperation to determine the extent to which banks illegally supplied the FBI with Americans’ financial data. According to testimony from current and former FBI officials and documents recently obtained by the Committee and Select Subcommittee, Bank of America (BoA) provided the FBI-voluntarily and without any legal process-with a list of individuals who made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with a BoA credit or debit card between January 5 and January 7, 2021.
Additionally, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have recently obtained documents that raise new concerns regarding the extent to which financial institutions, including Citibank, may have shared customer information with federal law enforcement despite the lack of an individualized nexus to criminal conduct. These documents indicate that a Citibank representative was included on emails and Zoom discussions organized by the FBI and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) focused on “identifying the best approach to information sharing, both strategic and operational," in the wake of the events of January 6. These documents suggest that the executive branch was brainstorming informal methods-outside of legal process-for obtaining private customer information from financial institutions.
The Committee and Select Subcommittee are authorized to conduct oversight of matters involving civil liberties and criminal law to inform potential legislative reforms, and to date, Citibank has failed to comply with the Committee’s request voluntarily.
Read the full subpoena cover letter to Citibank here.
Source: House Committee On The Judiciary