North Charlotte Today

Steve Cortes, the founder of the League of American Workers, voiced strong condemnation regarding Bank of America's collaboration with law enforcement, particularly in light of recent events surrounding the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cortes emphasized the significance of Bank of America sharing customer information to the FBI and highlights a concerning trend where big corporations are aligning with government agencies to surveil and inform on individuals exercising their constitutional rights. 

“Big Business too often acts like Big Brother in America today, especially when conglomerates like BofA team up with Biden's administration to surveil and inform on Americans exercising their protected rights to free speech and political advocacy,” Cortes told North Charlotte Today.  

Cortes advocates for strict adherence to legal protocols, stressing that banks should only disclose confidential client information when required by a valid subpoena.

Expressing alarm over the implications of Bank of America's actions, Cortes called for individuals to reconsider their reliance on such conglomerates. 

“As much as possible individual costumers should avoid these multinational conglomerates that hate our values. In a future Trump administration, legions of people need to be fired from corrupt agencies like the Department of Justice,” Cortes said.

“These outrageous intrusions into the private affairs of US citizens are unwarranted, unjust, and un-American. Law abiding people are free to purchase legal weapons and to read whatever religious books they wish, without big business and government monitoring.” 

Cortes underscored the impact of law enforcement's access to the private financial records of ordinary American workers. 

“Workers are already subjected to ridiculous and insulting ESG and DEI propaganda programs as prerequisites for employment,” he said. “Now, do they also have to be concerned about their bank records being shared, without warrants or probable cause of wrongdoing?”

Cortes has served as a contributor to Fox News and CNN and is a former operative for the Trump campaign as well as a spokesperson for the Hispanic 100. He authors the Substack newsletter "Patria with Steve Cortes."

In early March, an interim report titled "Financial Surveillance in the United States: How Federal Law Enforcement Commandeered Financial Institutions to Spy on Americans,” was released by the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. According to the press release, the report exposes evidence of federal law enforcement conducting extensive financial surveillance, intruding into private transactions of American citizens. Among the revelations in the report are that the FBI held clandestine discussions with major financial institutions including the Bank of America.

The report also reveals that retired FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst George Hill “testified that, following the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Bank of America (BoA), voluntarily and without legal process, provided the FBI with a list of names of all individuals who used a BoA credit or debit card in the Washington, D.C. region between the dates of January 5 and January 7, 2021.”

This testimony was corroborated by another former senior FBI official, Joseph Beonavolonta. In response, the Committee and Select Subcommittee are examining the implications of such actions while balancing the need for collaboration between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) was critical of the Bank of America’s actions, noting they may have implications for privacy and civil liberties.

“The report from @Weaponization via @HouseGOP is insane. Leave @BankofAmerica now!” Luna posted on X. 

“The @FBI is due for a massive overhaul come November.” 

Luna suggested Americans read the report themselves.  

"The dirty deeds that the FBI, along with Bank of America and a few other banks have been doing. First of all, if you're at Bank of America, I highly suggest you move from that bank. Okay, so right following January 6th, Bank of America actually went through and handed over people's personal information that had used either a debit or credit card in the Washington, D.C. area,” Luna said in a video posted to X. 

“Even if you weren't in January 6th. Then they also proceeded to hand over bank transactions using debit card or credit cards of any firearm purchase, no matter when or where it occurred to the FBI. Not just that though. If you've purchased religious texts, it doesn't matter if you're a Christian, Muslim, or Jew. Guess what? Domestic extremists.” 

“If you've talked at a Cabela's at a Dick's Sporting Goods where the Bass Pro shop, they also flagged that information, transactions on sales. This is gross surveillance of the American people. And by the way, they are taking now what over half of Americans are now domestic extremist or violent terrorist. This is crazy."

In recent days Bank of America has also come under scrutiny for its discriminatory de-banking practices. 

According to RealClearMarkets, the bank has been accused of canceling accounts of politically-aligned customers with vague notifications. The customers would receive these notifications that their accounts are being canceled due to “reputational risk.” 

The bank has refused to provide concrete reasons for terminating the accounts.