Former President Donald Trump vowed this week to “never allow” the United States to adopt a central bank digital currency.
According to the Federal Reserve, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a form of digital money issued by a nation’s central bank for use by the general public. The main difference between a CBDC and existing digital currencies is that a CBDC functions in the United States as a liability of the Federal Reserve, not of a commercial bank.
“As your president, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency,” Trump said during a speech in New Hampshire on January 17, the National Pulse reported.
Unlike physical currencies, which cannot be traced digitally, transactions made via CBDC can potentially give federal agencies unprecedented power in terms of monitoring and tracking what Americans purchase.
“Such a currency would give the federal government absolute control over your money,” claimed Trump. “This would be a dangerous threat to freedom — and I will stop it from coming to America.”
Trump’s comments coincided with new revelations about federal agencies offering seemingly politicized guidance related to law enforcement investigations.
New documents obtained by the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government revealed that Treasury Department officials previously issued guidance to financial institutions on flagging “persons of interest,” advising them to flag the financial transactions of Americans that contain words like “MAGA” and “Trump.”
“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, [the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] (FinCEN) distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement,” the House Judiciary Committee said in a press release.
“In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression,” continued the statement.
“This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” the House Judiciary Committee added.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, quipped about the revelations on social media.
“We now know the federal government flagged terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP’ to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms. What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop,” he posted on X.
