No warrants and no probable cause have been no problem for the Obama administration in its work to collect detailed financial information on millions of Americans, according to a new report.
Wait, you say, wasn’t the Obama administration already collecting details about phone calls? Yup. And the content of prayers of Christian groups? Affirmative. And how about the phone records of reporters? Yes, again.
But none of that has slowed the administration’s strategy to collect – without warrants – detailed data about how Americans spend their money, use their credit and pay their bills.
The documents confirming the effort were released today by Judicial Watch, the Washington watchdog organization that tracks down, investigates and presses for prosecution of federal crimes.
“The Obama administration’s warrantless collection of the private financial information of millions of Americans is mind-blowing. Is there anything that this administration thinks it can’t do?” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“These documents show that the Consumer Financial Protection Board is an out-of-control government agency that threatens the fundamental privacy and financial security of Americans. This is every bit as serious as the controversy over the NSA’s activities.”
It was the National Security Agency that was revealed to have been collecting data without warrants on the phone calls of millions of Americans.
Judicial Watch said it acquired through a Freedom of Information Act procedure records revealing some of the government’s recent work.
The report said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has spent millions of dollars for “the warrantless collection and analysis of Americans’ financial transactions.”
It explains the fine print also calls for CFPB contractors, who may have that information, “may be required to share the information with ‘additional government entities.’”
The watchdog organization began its search for the records following CFPB chief Richard Cordray’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee in April.
Among other things, it found that the board, authorized by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform plan, wants large amounts of credit information from millions of consumers, reportedly for a number of “policy research projects.”
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