U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen couldn’t – or wouldn’t – tell Congress whether or not her department ordered financial institutions to spy on the transactions of private and law-abiding citizens. The Treasury Department is suspected of telling large financial institutions to hand over transaction information of any potential purchases of firearms, ammunition or purchases at sporting goods stores as part of an investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Secretary Yellen could have put any suspicion to rest by simply telling Congress that it didn’t happen. Her inability, or unwillingness, to definitively respond is troubling for the firearm industry, which has been battling back against back-door gun control efforts to expose the private financial history of firearm and ammunition purchasers under the guise of crime prevention.
Secretary Yellen faced off with the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The meeting followed a letter sent by House committee members specifically demanding answers to documents in which Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed that the Biden administration was behind a clandestine scheme to track Americans’ purchases without their knowledge or any evidence of a crime.
By Mark Oliva