Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz has introduced a bill to shut down the Internet Covert Operations Program, a domestic surveillance operation run by the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service.
Now formally called the Analytics Team, the operation’s agents “proactively gather intelligence using cryptocurrency analysis, open-source intelligence, and social media analysis,” according to a 2022 audit report from the USPS’s Office of the Inspector General.
The program came to light when a report detailing its existence was published by Yahoo News in April 2021.
Yahoo noted at the time that a March 16, 2021, government bulletin, marked as “law enforcement sensitive,” said the program was working to monitor “right-leaning” internet sites for possible domestic terrorism.