Judicial Watch sues FBI for records on obtaining banking information on people in DC on Jan. 6

Judicial Watch said Tuesday it filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation for records of communication between the Department of Justice and several financial organizations for alleged financial transactions made by people in the Washington D.C. area on the days surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The conservative judicial watchdog group said the FBI refused to confirm or deny the existence of such documents. The lawsuit filed Tuesday was created after the FBI failed to respond to another open record request on Feb. 10, 2021.

"We want the details on what looks to be an unprecedented abuse of the financial privacy of countless innocent Americans by big banks and the FBI," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. "The FBI’s stonewalling and non-denial denial of our request speak volumes."

The watchdog is asking for all records of communication between the FBI and financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Discover, and American Express, among others. However, no time frame was given for the FBI and DOJ to respond to the request.

In June, it was discovered that Bank of America had handed over the banking and transaction information of approximately 200 people in the Washington D.C. area at the time of the riot, according to Fox News.

Bank of America allegedly "actively but secretly engaged in the hunt for extremists in cooperation with the government” and, following the events of January 6, gave the FBI financial records of their customers."