US officials are denying accusations raised in an incredible BuzzFeed News report published Friday, in which a senior US Treasury official accused the intelligence arm of the Treasury Department of illegally spying on US citizens. A Senate source now tells Gizmodo that department officials may be called to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee over the matter.
The Treasury official, who spoke to BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity, implicated Treasury’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA) in “domestic spying.” The report, which cited multiple government officials, stated that the OIA had “repeatedly and systematically” violated domestic surveillance laws by rifling through the private records of US citizens without legal authority.
Accusations that the OIA has been illegally collecting and storing data on US citizens—as well as providing the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies with “illegal backdoor access” to US citizens’ financial records—has already prompted a response from lawmakers charged with overseeing the intelligence community.
https://gizmodo.com/senate-intelligence-officials-plan-to-question-treasury-1819233352