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Palestine, the alchemy of big lies and future of the university

In September 1944, as the genocide of European Jews was ongoing and the violence of World War II was at its peak, Max Horkheimer, co-founder of the Institute for Social Research – aka the Frankfurt School – and the methodology of “critical theory” it developed, declared that “wittingly or unwittingly, the Jews have become the martyrs of civilization. … To protect the Jews has come to be a symbol of everything that mankind stands for. Their survival is the survival of culture itself.” It is telling that 80 years later with the forced resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay, so many of the same issues that occupied the Frankfurt School then are at the centre of a culture war that, with the 2024 presidential election looming, could determine the fate of democracy in the United States – just as the founders of critical theory predicted. Only now it’s Palestinians and not Jews who are the martyrs and symbols, whose survival as a national community on their land has become, more than any other contemporary conflict, a bellwether of the possibility to address the increasingly intractable problems facing humanity. Critics of Gay’s forced resignation, even when accounting for her admittedly sloppy citation practices, point to her race; advocacy of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies; and mostly, her overly lawyered response to questions about “calling for genocide of Jews” during the now infamous December 5 congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on campus as the reasons for her departure. But her position was doomed, and deservedly so, before she fumbled her context-dependent answer to Representative Elise Stefanik’s question about whether calls for genocide on campus would be considered hate speech. It was Gay’s moral cowardice in the face of Stefanik’s unmistakably mendacious set-up to the genocide question that revealed not only Gay’s unsuitability for leadership of the world’s premier research university but also the deeper intellectual and political rot at the highest echelons of American academia. The congresswoman claimed that merely by chanting the phrases “river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada”, protesters are in fact calling for “violence against civilians and the genocide of Jews”. “Are you aware of that?” Stefanik asked Gay. Here Stefanik was brazenly deploying the well-worn fascist tactic most recently resuscitated by Donald Trump to great effect: the “big lie”. It couldn’t have worked better; before Stefanik could even finish her accusation, Gay interjected that she found those phrases “hateful, reckless, offensive speech [that] is personally abhorrent to me”. Soon-to-be-fired University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who only a few months before had worked overtime to prevent the Palestine Writers Literature Festival from taking place at UPenn, similarly bent the knee to Stefanik’s concocted allegations about rabid anti-Semitism on her campus. Gay might have a problem citing colleagues, but it’s simply inconceivable that the now former president of Harvard is so ignorant and ill-informed as to believe that those two phrases are tantamount to a call for genocide (it is worth noting that “river to the sea” has been used by Zionists for over a century, most recently by Netanyahu to declare that there will be “no Palestinian state from the river to the sea”). Her rush to second Stefanik’s racist accusation in the most “personal” way possible represented both a complete disavowal of what she and her colleagues must know to be reality and the kind of grovelling by academic leaders to state officials that characterise totalitarian systems, not functioning democracies. If there was ever a moment for academic integrity to show its face, it was then. If there was ever an inflection point in the struggle against fascist propaganda in the halls of Congress, it was then. The only ethical response to Stefanik’s deployment of such brazen falsehoods in the service of repressive politics was the one another Harvard alum, Joseph Nye Welch, famously gave to Senator Joseph McCarthy some 70 years ago after McCarthy, during a nationally televised hearing, accused a young colleague from Welch’s law firm of being a communist and suggested that the man should be fired. “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” Welch had said before refusing to answer any more questions on the matter. Only clear courage and harsh truth can defeat “the big lie”. Welch’s shaming of McCarthy’s “cruelty and recklessness” turned public and media opinion about McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade against him overnight. It has inspired congressional witnesses ever since, although clearly not Gay and her colleagues. And the price of their cowardice arrived directly with the punchline of Stefanik’s interrogation: her demand they declare whether chanting to “genocide the Jews” would be permissible speech on their campuses. The question flummoxed the three Ivy League presidents precisely because no such phrase has been chanted on their or any other campuses. Instead, in another deployment of big lie tactics, chants accusing Israel – plausibly, it must be stressed – of genocide in Gaza have been deliberately and falsely transformed by Israel’s long-formidable hasbara, or propaganda, machine into chants calling for the genocide of Jews, circulated virally on social media and then taken up by Stefanik on cue as the basis for her self-righteous inquisition of Gay, Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth. Perhaps a generation ago, the three university presidents could have been forgiven for having no ready response to such a fantastical accusation since it existed outside the reality-based universe academics are used to functioning in. Back then, as Karl Rove famously declared in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq (another big lie that shaped American politics for a generation), the imperial United States was so powerful “we create our own reality.” But at least scholars and journalists were still allowed “to study that reality … judiciously, as you will.” Today, even that courtesy is no longer afforded the intellectual class as the empire moves closer to ruin and its realities become harder to maintain. The “reality-based community” in academia, journalism and social media is under unprecedented assault, not just by hardcore conservatives but also

Ram Temple Inauguration: Know latest developments about Pran Pratishtha Ceremony

In solidarity with the celebrations, all public sector banks and insurance companies will remain closed until 2:30 pm on January 22.

Appeals court rules lawsuit seeking Jan. 6 emails from Texas governor, attorney general can move forward

On Jan. 6, 2021, Ken Paxton spoke at a rally that preceded a mob of Donald Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol.

Hawley demands answers from TSA on migrants using controversial app to board planes: ‘This is outrageous’

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is urging the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide answers about a reported initiative to allow migrants to use the CBP One app to verify documentation when boarding airplanes — without having to have their photo taken by the agency. Hawley, in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital, wrote to TSA administrator David Pekoske about a partnership between TSA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to allow migrants to use CBP One to validate travel documents. “This practice not only undermines the rule of law but also raises significant security concerns for commercial airflight,” he said. The app has been used since January last year to allow migrants who present themselves at a port of entry to be allowed in, initially due to an exception from the Title 42 public health order and then since May to be paroled in to the U.S. as part of the Biden administration’s expansion of “lawful pathways.” It allows them to upload a photograph before making an appointment and provide additional information before the appointment. TSA CHIEF SAYS ‘UNDER 1,000’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BOARD PLANES WITH WARRANTS AS ID  CBP has stressed that those who have entered the country are vetted using biographic and biometric information, and those who are paroled have already provided a photograph. Parolees are not in the country illegally since they have been paroled, but Republicans have said that the CBP One app is being used to wave in otherwise illegal immigrants. Hawley has previously described the app as a “concierge service” for illegal immigration. The TSA had previously green-lit the use of civil arrest warrants and deportation orders to allow migrants — including those in the country illegally — to board planes, with Pekoske telling Hawley last year that under 1,000 migrants had been allowed to board planes.  Howerver, this week, conservative commentator David Rubin posted an image onto X showing a sign, purportedly at Miami International Airport, which says, “TSA is partnering with CBP to test the use of CBP One at certain TSA checkpoints to validate adult non-U.S. citizen travel documentation when the traveler does not otherwise have an acceptable form of identification.” The sign explains how the individual must notify an officer, have an optional photo taken and provide either their alien identification number or biographical information. The sign stresses that the individual may decline to have a photo taken but must still provide the information, and that that information is verified through CBP One. SENATE REPUBLICANS QUIZ BIDEN ADMIN ON TSA ALLOWING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO USE WARRANTS AS ID  Hawley said that if the report is accurate, “this is outrageous.” “Millions of Americans are subject to the TSA screening process, which is often a burdensome, long inconvenience—and which includes photo identification. But every day, Americans take on this burden to increase the safety of their fellow passengers,” he said.  “Therefore, it makes no sense to give special privileges to illegal immigrants, who should not even be allowed in the United States in the first place, let alone allowed to board U.S. aircraft. This is symbolic of the Biden Administration’s prioritization of open border policies over Americans’ safety,” he said. He noted that he has previously questioned TSA over the use of allowing migrants to provide typically insufficient documentation, like arrest warrants, as ID. Hawley wants to know which DHS component developed the policy, how many immigrants have used it and been allowed to board aircraft, and a request for related documentation. TSA told Fox News in response to a query about the screening practice that it does not screen upon entry into the U.S. and that all passengers have the right to opt out of automated facial recognition. “If a noncitizen opts out, as part of identity verification, TSA checks the live face against a photo taken by CBP upon encounter to ensure that they are the same person. If identity is confirmed, the noncitizen receives enhanced physical screening of their person and property,” a spokesperson said. “All individuals without an acceptable form of identification go through a stringent identity matching process and then receive additional screening before being allowed to proceed to his or her flight. Additionally, TSA denies boarding to all noncitizens whom TSA cannot match to government holdings.” Pekoske had previously defended the practice of allowing arrest warrants to be used when quizzed by Hawley. HAWLEY SEEKS ANSWERS ON ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ TSA POLICY OF ALLOWING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO USE WARRANTS AS ID  “These individuals who have these arrest warrants, these arrest warrants were issued by Border Patrol or a customs officer, and they serve as a beginning of our identity verification process so you can’t walk up to a checkpoint, wave that form and then go right through into screening,” he said at a hearing in 2022. The agency has also said that any such document will then be validated via an “alien identification number” that involves personally identifiable information being checked against a number of CBP databases, including the CBP One mobile application and TSA’s National Transportation Vetting Center. “To confirm the identity of an individual and ensure they are not on the no-fly list or pose a known threat to public safety or national security, TSA verifies the identity of every traveler before they are permitted to enter the secure area of an airport,” a statement from TSA said at the time. “We aren’t looking at whether a person is legal or illegal in the country,” Pekoske said. “Our role is to make sure that people who may pose a risk to transportation that is significant enough to require enhanced screening or to not allow them to fly.” The letter comes as the migrant crisis is heading into its third year with record numbers recorded at the border. There were more than 302,000 migrant encounters in December and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently told agents that over 85% were being released into the interior. Fox News’ Brian Paz contributed to this report.

Tim Scott to endorse Trump at rally in New Hampshire Friday evening

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is endorsing former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican nomination race, Fox News confirmed on Friday. Scott, who in November ended his own run for the White House, will formally announce his support for Trump when he appears alongside the former president at a rally Friday evening in Concord, New Hampshire, sources with knowledge of the matter told Fox News. Both Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race, and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called the senator in recent days as they both tried to secure Scott’s endorsement, sources confirm. Scott, the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, mostly avoided criticizing Trump during his presidential campaign.  Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

RFK, Jr catches waves with surfing legend Kelly Slater for birthday while campaigning in Hawaii

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., caught some waves with surfing legend Kelly Slater for his birthday while campaigning in Hawaii. Kennedy posted the video of him surfing with Slater, and surf rock playing in the background on X, formerly Twitter. “Best birthday present ever: Catching waves with 11-time world surf champion [Slater] on North Shore, Pua’ena Point,” Kennedy wrote on Wednesday. RFK JR SCORES ENDORSEMENTS FROM 3 HIGH-PROFILE ATHLETES Kennedy made the post amid his visit to the Aloha State, where he held a rally in his bid for president. The independent candidate is challenging President Biden and the eventual Republican presidential nominee for the Oval Office. Kennedy has been making his rounds throughout the country and in the media as he has pushed forward with his campaign and has garnered support from several celebrities. Rock and roll legend Eric Clapton raised a whopping $2.2 million for Kennedy at a Los Angeles fundraiser in September, his campaign said. Kennedy’s campaign said it raised $1 million while the remaining $1.2 million went to a political action committee supporting the Democrat’s presidential bid. Slater is one of several high-profile athletes who have also endorsed Kennedy in his independent bid for president. In November, a trio of former professional athletes announced that they were throwing their support behind Kennedy to take the White House. NBA legend and 1992 “Dream Team” Olympian John Stockton, Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame member Ken Ruettegers and three-time North American Enduro mountain biking champion Kyle Warner are all endorsing Kennedy for president. The athletes said that they like the cut of Kennedy’s jib — all three pointed to what they say are the independent candidate’s genuineness, honesty and openness to conversations about policies as reasons they support him. Stockton said he believes that Kennedy “has been put on this planet for just this moment in time” and that there’s “a real need for him and his leadership.” “There’s a need for very smart people in these positions that have integrity that [is] off the charts, that have the stamina and strength to be able to speak and be a leader 24/7, not just on occasion or on blips,” Stockton said.

Democratic Gov. Beshear blasts Kentucky House Republicans’ spending plan

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday tore into a state spending plan unveiled by House Republicans, saying it falls far short of what’s needed for Kentucky schools, juvenile justice, health care and other essential services at a time of big budget surpluses. In his first skirmish with GOP lawmakers since winning reelection last year, Beshear said the House’s two-year spending plan would bring on needless red tape, hamstring the state’s response to natural disasters and significantly cut its government workforce. “There’s a lot to work on,” he said while contrasting his budget blueprint with the GOP House version. REPUBLICAN-LED KENTUCKY HOUSE PANEL APPROVES ‘THREE-STRIKES’ ANTI-CRIME BILL Asked for a response later Thursday, Republican House Speaker David Osborne said: “It will come as no shock to anybody within earshot of this that there’s no way in the world we’re ever going to spend as much as the governor wants to.” The House spending proposals were introduced on Tuesday. House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chairman Jason Petrie said at the time that it “continues our commitment to investing in our commonwealth’s future while prioritizing responding spending that aims to efficiently allocate resources while maintaining essential public services.” Two days later, the Democratic governor found plenty of problems with it, including key elements for public education. Beshear said the House plan would funnel $1.1 billion less into the state’s main funding formula for public K-12 schools — known as SEEK — than he proposed. He blasted the House GOP plan for not guaranteeing pay raises for teachers and all other public school employees and for its lack of funding to provide access to preschool for every Kentucky 4-year-old. Both were cornerstones of Beshear’s budget plan, which called for an 11% raise for school employees. That universal pre-K proposal is essential to meeting Kentuckians’ child care needs, he said. Enrolling every 4-year-old in state-supported preschools would free up more slots in daycares for younger children and would help many parents reenter the workforce, the governor said. “Just giving a blanket investment in child care without universal pre-K is not going to add one childcare slot anywhere in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “It’s not going to solve any of the child care desert issues. You’ve got to do them together if we want to have a real impact.” The big pay raise is needed to attract and retain teachers as states compete to staff classrooms, he said. The House plan would leave it up to school districts to decide whether to use additional state funding to award pay raises to teachers and other staff. It reflects requests from school superintendents that they be given spending flexibility, Osborne said Wednesday. “We try not to micromanage those things, especially when it comes to their budgets,” he said. The House measure includes language strongly encouraging districts to award raises. And it includes provisions to track salary decisions by districts. It would add “a layer of accountability with a reporting requirement that makes salary schedules, compensation increases … easily available,” Petrie said. KENTUCKY SENATE APPROVES PROPOSAL TO END ODD-YEAR ELECTIONS FOR STATE OFFICE In methodically picking apart the House plan, Beshear said it would underfund the state’s Medicaid program, which serves poor and disabled people. It fails to fund safety upgrades at juvenile detention centers and would halt efforts to shore up staffing in those centers, he said. The House plan also would put limits on funding to respond to emergencies and natural disasters, he said. The amount of money available under the bill “wouldn’t get us through an ice storm,” Beshear said. It could force a governor to call lawmakers into a special session to obtain the necessary funding, he said. Kentucky was pounded by natural disasters during Beshear’s first term when tornadoes hit western Kentucky in late 2021 and flooding inundated sections of eastern Kentucky in 2022. Some of Beshear’s harshest comments in his review were aimed at the potential impact on the state’s workforce and the paperwork it would create for his administration. The House budget would dramatically reduce state personnel by eliminating funding for up to 95% of vacant positions, he said. “This is just taking a hatchet and hacking at the executive branch without even looking,” Beshear said. The House measure would snarl his administration in red tape, he said, by requiring that quarterly reports be submitted to the legislature for virtually every executive branch action. He called it an unworkable attempt to micromanage the executive branch. “This is the type of red tape that prevents things from getting done in government,” Beshear said. One looming decision for lawmakers is what to do, if anything, with the state’s massive budget reserves amid strong revenue collections. House Republicans have proposed tapping those reserves to make one-time investments totaling more than $1.7 billion for infrastructure, public safety and economic development and to help pay down unfunded liabilities in public pension systems. With the budget process in its early stages, the governor said hopes changes will be made — either in the House or when the executive branch budget measure goes to the Senate. But with supermajorities in both chambers, Republican lawmakers will determine the final contents of the state budget.

Maryland Black Caucus releases legislative agenda, prioritizes health, housing and criminal justice reform

Black Maryland lawmakers highlighted a package of measures on Thursday that they are prioritizing to improve health, access to housing, minority business opportunities, education and criminal justice reforms. Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, noted that the caucus includes 66 of the Maryland General Assembly’s 188 legislators, the largest caucus of its kind in the nation. “Our agenda seeks to address health disparities and maternal health and cancer that plague our communities and lead to high mortality rates,” Wilkins, a Montgomery County Democrat, said at a news conference. “We will seek to increase access to housing and create a more stable environment for renters and Marylanders.” HALEY ENDORSED BY EX-MARYLAND GOV. HOGAN, WHO WON’T RUN ON THIRD-PARTY TICKET Here’s a look at some of the measures that are being prioritized by the caucus: The caucus is supporting a measure to improve the health of pregnant women by streamlining medical forms after they are discharged from hospitals and connecting patients with community-based services. Black lawmakers also are adding their support to a bill to expand the authority of the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board to set upper payment limits on prescription drugs statewide. The caucus also wants to do more to raise public awareness about the availability of cancer screening. The caucus is backing a bill to give local governments the authority to require just cause to deny the renewal of leases and establish clear criteria for evictions to protect tenants. Another bill would restrict housing providers from discriminating against potential tenants who have criminal records by barring landlords from reviewing criminal history three years after release. The caucus is seeking to expand criminal record expungement laws. One measure would enable courts to decide whether a person’s record could be expunged, even if a crime falls outside of current statutory allowances. Supporters say that while the state has made progress on expungement rights, there are still a number of misdemeanors — like driving without a license or without insurance — that can’t be expunged. The caucus also supports a bill to create an ombudsman’s office for the correctional system that would provide a voice for the incarcerated and their families about conditions in correctional facilities. A measure with caucus support would ensure that Maryland is not approving duplicate programs that are already being provided by the state’s four historically Black colleges and universities. The caucus also expressed opposition to a proposal in Gov. Wes Moore’s budget proposal that would create a copayment of up to 7% of families’ income to participate in a child care scholarship program. Del. Stephanie Smith, a Baltimore Democrat, said the potential copays “could actually make the value of the scholarship program less potent.” The governor’s office said Moore is proud to have put forward the largest investment ever in the program, and that the governor looks forward to continuing conversations with lawmakers, local leaders and advocates. The caucus highlighted a bill to increase transparency in the awarding of state contracts. One measure would create an interactive public dashboard for the state’s Board of Public Works, which approves most state contracts. Another measure would increase prime contracting opportunities for minority businesses.

Fulton County DA Fani Willis attempts to quash subpoena related to alleged misconduct

Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis is hitting back at allegations that she has engaged in an improper relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, accusing his estranged wife of “interfering” with her prosecution of former President Trump. Willis has been subpoenaed to give a pretrial deposition in the divorce case of Nathan Wade and Joycelyn Wade on January 23rd, but in a Thursday court filing, the she argued the subpoena should be quashed.  A portion of the filing reads: “Defendant Joycelyn Wade has conspired with interested parties in the criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress District Attorney Willis.” Willis’ attorney, Cinque Axam, wrote that the attempt to question Willis is “obstructing and interfering” with the ongoing criminal case against Trump.  GEORGIA TRUMP PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS FACES HEARING ON ALLEGED MISCONDUCT Andrea Hastings, a lawyer for Joycelyn Wade, told the Associated Press they want to help her “resolve her divorce fairly and privately” and that any response to Willis’ motion will come in a filing with the court. Trump codefendant Michael Roman’s lawyer accused Willis and Wade of engaging in an improper relationship and mishandling public money in a court filing last week. Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, did not provide evidence of the alleged relationship between Willis and Wade but pointed to proof in Wade’s divorce case. Merchant alleges that Willis’ purported relationship with Wade created a conflict of interest and that she benefited financially from the relationship in the form of lavish vacations the two took using funds his law firm received for working the case. County records show that Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022, an amount authorized by the district attorney, or Willis in this case. GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS CLAIMS ‘IMPROPER’ RELATIONSHIP ACCUSATIONS ARE BASED ON RACE Willis has neither confirmed nor denied that she was romantically involved with Wade.  In her first comments on the matter earlier this week, Willis suggested that she and Wade are being scrutinized because they are Black.  “They only attacked one,” Willis said at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta on Sunday. “First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s gonna play the race card now.’ But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one?” In the motion filed Thursday, Willis’ attorney argued that Nathan and Joycelyn Wade have been separated for more than two years and are going through “an uncontested no-fault divorce,” with an “absence of any relevant basis” to question Willis. GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS SHOULD RESIGN FROM TRUMP CASE OVER ‘IMPROPER’ RELATIONSHIP ACCUSATION: EX-U.S. ATTORNEY Merchant has cited “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney,” but so far offered no other proof of the alleged relationship. “I would have never filed something like this if I didn’t have multiple sources to corroborate,” Merchant told WSB-TV in an interview last week, defending the motion she filed on behalf of Roman.  In statements to the Associated Press, Merchant questioned why Willis insists that answering the subpoena in the divorce case would harm her reputation. “Ms. Willis alleges that her deposition is being sought in an attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation. Why would her truthful testimony risk damaging her reputation?” Merchant asked.  TOP TRUMP PROSECUTOR, GEORGIA DA ALLEGED TO BE IN ‘IMPROPER’ ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP: COURT FILING She accused Willis of trying “to create a conspiracy where none exists,” noting that she filed her motion on the deadline for pretrial motions in the election case. “We believe her filing in Cobb County is just another attempt to avoid having to directly answer the important questions Mr. Roman has raised,” Merchant wrote. Willis is scheduled to appear for a February 15 hearing on Merchant’s motion. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ordered prosecutors to file a response by February 2. Trump, Roman and 17 others were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in August. They are accused of engaging in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Four of those indicted have admitted guilt in plea deals with prosecutors. Trump, Roman and the others have pleaded not guilty. Trump has called for the case against him to be dropped outright over the allegations. “You had a very big event yesterday, as you saw, in Georgia, where the district attorney is totally compromised. The case has to be dropped,” Trump told reporters last week. “They went after 18 or 20 people. . . . She was out of her mind. Now it turns out that case is totally compromised.” “It’s illegal. What she did is illegal. So we’ll let the state handle that, but what a sad situation it is,” he added. Fox News’ Samantha Daigle, Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Brian Flood and Brandon Gillespie and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Senate Republican demands answers from Treasury on push for banks to ‘surveil’ customer transactions in 2021

EXCLUSIVE: The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee is demanding answers from the Treasury Department and its financial crimes enforcement division after revelations the agencies urged private financial institutions to “surveil” private transactions using “politically charged search terms” to flag customer profiles to federal law enforcement. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki on Friday after Fox News Digital exclusively reported that the agency suggested in January 2021 that banks use specific search terms to query transactions, including “MAGA,” “Trump,” “Biden,” and more, along with merchant codes from specific sporting goods stores. ‘ALARMING’ SURVEILLANCE: FEDS ASKED BANKS TO SEARCH PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘MAGA,’ ‘TRUMP’ “I write regarding recent reporting that the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) urged private financial institutions to surveil customers’ transaction-level data using politically charged search terms, in order to flag certain customer profiles on behalf of Federal law enforcement,” Scott wrote in the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital. “These allegations, if true, represent a flagrant violation of Americans’ privacy and the improper targeting of U.S. citizens for exercising their constitutional rights without due process.” Scott pointed to the Fox News Digital report, which revealed that FinCEN provided materials to financial institutions instructing them to search and filter Americans’ financial data using keywords and search terms, as well as merchant category codes to aid law enforcement in identifying persons of interest ahead of the Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration — weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021 capitol riot. The terms and codes were discovered as part of a House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government investigation. The committees obtained documents indicating that MCC codes were used to query transactions like: “3484: Small Arms,” “5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies,” and the keywords “Cabela’s,” “Dick’s Sporting Goods” and “Bass Pro Shops,” among others. The House Judiciary Committee also obtained documents revealing that FinCEN warned financial institutions that an “extremism indicator” could be “the purchase of books (including religious texts),” like the Bible, and subscriptions to certain media “containing extremist views.” “These allegations are particularly concerning given past efforts to weaponize the financial system and payment activity against politically disfavored, lawful activity,” Scott wrote. “Under the Obama administration’s ‘Operation Choke Point’ initiative, the Department of Justice (DOJ) coordinated with federal financial regulators to intimidate financial institutions into denying services to legitimate businesses that the administration was ideologically opposed to, including gun retailers.” Scott said that “the weaponization and misuse of MCC codes is not a new issue either,” saying members of Congress have recently raised concerns about the potential to “surveil the free exercise of lawful activity using an MCC code—the same concern is at issue here.”  “Federal government efforts to target individuals and entities based on their political views is a blatant and egregious violation of our Constitution,” Scott wrote. “Additionally, reported actions like these disrupt confidence in federal law enforcement and raise significant questions regarding the independence of federal financial regulators.” Scott is demanding that the Treasury Department and FinCEN turn over information on the “role, if any,” FinCEN played in “soliciting financial data from private companies” to help law enforcement to identify targets after Jan. 6. FEDS SUGGESTED BANKS SEARCH TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘BIDEN,’ ‘ANTIFA’ AND MORE AFTER JAN 6: SOURCES Scott is also asking if anyone from any other executive branch agency — like the Justice Department or FBI — ever directed, requested or encouraged FinCEN to engage in those alleged activities. Scott is also asking for answers on what the basis was for FinCEN to conclude that the purchasing or possessing of religious texts “may be indicative of extremism,” and who at FinCEN decided to warn banks of that possibility. Scott has also requested a list of the financial institutions that FinCEN met with when suggesting the search for transactions of customers who shopped at Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Cabela’s, and a list of all agencies in the government involved in the decision to search and filter those transactions. Scott has asked the Treasury Department to turn over that information by Feb 2. Meanwhile, sources familiar told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the search terms, like “MAGA” and “Trump,” were generated by a bank and used to help them identify suspicious transactions when reviewing customer transactional information. It is unclear which bank generated the search terms.  The sources said FinCEN then shared those terms with other banks to help those financial institutions to comply with their own suspicious activity reports. However, beyond the terms identified by the House Judiciary Committee, the unnamed bank generated other terms, which FinCEN shared with other banks, the sources told Fox News Digital.  The source said the additional search terms included: “White Power,” “Camp Auschwitz,” “Antifa,” “Proud B,” “Storm, the,” “Capitol,” “Groyper Army,” “Threepers,” “boogaloo,” “civil war,” “last sons,” “kill,” “shoot,” “gun,” “death,” “murder,” “Biden,” “Kamala,” “Pelosi,” “Schumer” and “Pence.” The sources said the distribution of the search terms, including “MAGA” and “Trump,” began in the final weeks of the Trump administration after Jan. 6, 2021. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who made the initial discovery, is requesting the former FinCEN official and an FBI official appear before his committee and the Weaponization Subcommittee for transcribed interviews to aid in the panel’s oversight investigation.