During an interview with the Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded to a question on a report from the House Judiciary Committee that the Treasury Department flagged a report linking some conservative groups to hate groups by saying she’s “not aware of any such thing.”
Fox Business White House Correspondent Edward Lawrence asked, [relevant exchange begins around 4:20] “So, FinCEN, I want to ask you about that. I know that the program urging banks to scan certain words was started under the Trump administration. Does FinCEN still routinely ask banks to scan for certain terms?”
Yellen responded, “Well, what FinCEN does is it works with financial institutions to help them meet their reporting requirements. Banks are required to report suspicious transactions, and it doesn’t require them to scan for particular words, but it works with banks and suggests ways in which they may be able to detect illicit payments, which is the objective. So, it’s the bank’s responsibility to know their customers, to report suspicious transactions, and there is no requirement that they scan for any particular words.”
Lawrence then asked, “Does it include GoFundMe and Eventbrite, those things, do you know, with a list of words?”
Yellen answered, “I’m certainly not aware of anything.”
Lawrence then asked, “[T]he House Judiciary Committee released a report that indicates that Treasury flagged a third-party report that links some conservative groups to hate groups, because Treasury sent that around, what’s your response?”
Yellen responded, “I’m not aware of any such thing.”
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