DOJ and Treasury Silent on Financial Surveillance Statistics Despite Congressional Mandate

Nicholas AnthonyTime and time again, the biggestproponents of the Bank Secrecy Act have been quick to defend its intrusion on the liberties of Americans with the argument that it stops crime. Yet, despite tens of millions of reports being filed each year, proponents can rarely name more than a few anecdotes of crimes actually being stopped. In fact, even the agency in charge of monitoring Bank Secrecy Act surveillance can ’t say how many reports have actually been used to apprehend criminals.Luckily, not everyone in Congress is content with the status quo on the Bank Secrecy Act regime. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R ‑MO)sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland at the Department of Justice (DOJ) stating just how unacceptable this disregard for the law is:The DOJ ’s disregard for section 6201 has cemented a lack of transparency into the usefulness of the reported data. If the DOJ is unable to state the usefulness of BSA reporting [data], it begs the question if the burdensome reporting is worthwhile.The section that Rep. Luetkemeyer noted is section 6201 of theWilliam M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, or NDAA. In short, this section of the law required a report detailing how data reported under the Bank Secrecy Act is actually used by law enforcement.Yet, as Rep. Luetkemeyer pointed out, the DOJ has failed to provide any meaningful information as required by the law. In fact, the DOJ is not alone. The De...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs