Treasury’s IG probing illegal surveillance allegations

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department’s inspector general says it is looking into allegations that a Treasury Department agency has been illegally looking at the private financial records of U.S. citizens.

Buzzfeed, a news website, is quoting unnamed government sources as saying that Treasury’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has “repeatedly and systematically violated domestic surveillance laws by snooping on the private financial records of U.S. citizens and companies.”

The Buzzfeed report said that over the past year, at least a dozen employees of another branch of Treasury have warned officials and Congress that the financial data was being illegally searched and stored.

Asked about the report, Rich Delmar, counsel to Treasury’s Inspector General, said, “The issues referred to in the article are currently being reviewed as part of a Treasury OIG audit.”