Office Of Intelligence And Analysis (Treasury Department)
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The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA) is a component of the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
responsible for the receipt, analysis, collation, and dissemination of
foreign intelligence Intelligence assessment, or simply intel, is the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organisation, based on wide ranges of available overt and covert information (intelligence). Assessments d ...
and
counterintelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
information related to the operation and responsibilities of the Treasury Department. Organized within the
Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), formed in 2004, is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. TFI works to reduce the use of the financial system for illicit activities by terrorists (groups and state-sponso ...
, the OIA’s efforts inform and support the Treasury Department’s ability to address illicit finance and national security threats to the United States such as terrorists, proliferators, rogue regimes, and criminal actors.


Precedents and Predecessor Offices of the Treasury

In its own account, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis traces its lineage to the pre-Constitutional Confederation Period and a 1782 instruction by the
Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...
to Robert Morris,
Superintendent of Finance of the United States Superintendent of Finance of the United States was the head of Department of Finance, which is an executive office during the Confederation period with power similar to a finance ministry. The only person to hold the office was Robert Morris, who ...
, to root out fraud in the Army. In 1961, the Treasury Department established a foreign intelligence capability, the Office of National Security (ONS), and charged by Treasury Secretary
Douglas Dillon Clarence Douglas Dillon (born Clarence Douglass Dillon; August 21, 1909January 10, 2003) was an American diplomat and politician, who served as U.S. Ambassador to France (1953–1957) and as the 57th Secretary of the Treasury (1961–1965). He w ...
to connect the Treasury Department with the broader efforts of the
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
. In 1977, ONS was overhauled and renamed the Office of Intelligence Support (OIS) by Treasury Secretary
Michael Blumenthal Werner Michael Blumenthal (born January 3, 1926) is a German-American business leader, economist and political adviser who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1979. At age thirteen, Blumenth ...
.


Inclusion of the Department of the Treasury in the Intelligence Community

The
United States Intelligence Community United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
(IC) as a formal collection of agencies was created through Executive Order 12333 ("United States Intelligence Activities") signed by President Ronald Reagan on December 4, 1981. The U.S. Department of Treasury was given intelligence responsibilities through instructions to the
United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
:


Authorizing legislation

The U.S. Congress created the Office of Intelligence and Analysis itself as a part of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2004. Congress followed up the next year with the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (CAA) was an omnibus appropriation legislation consisting of eleven Divisions, enacted on December 8, 2004 as H.R. 4818 by President Bush and assigned Public Law No. 108-447, during the 108th United States ...
. The Act organized OIA under an umbrella
Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), formed in 2004, is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. TFI works to reduce the use of the financial system for illicit activities by terrorists (groups and state-sponso ...
(TFI), alongside the
Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
(OFAC) and the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. The leadership of OIA was made an Assistant Secretary appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. With the rest of the U.S. Intelligence Community, OIA was subject to the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with var ...
that replaced the
Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...
with the
Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Commu ...
."
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with var ...
."


Activities

With the creation of the TFI and the OIA, the Treasury Department established two secure networks for national security information: Treasury Secure Data Network (TSDN), for information classified
Secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...
and
Confidential Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, lawyers are often required ...
and Treasury Foreign Intelligence Network (TFIN), classified as
Top Secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
and Sensitive Compartmentalized Information. The data from the TFIN system is shared by OIA with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, the Under Secretary for TFI, the Undersecretary for International Affairs, OFAC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and other components. An audit of the
Treasury Inspector General A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
states that TFIN was established for 30 users, but by 2008 had grown to "approximately 130." In 2006,
Eric Lichtblau Eric Lichtblau (born 1965) is an American journalist, reporting for ''The New York Times'' in the Washington bureau, as well as the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Time'' magazine, ''The New Yorker'', and the CNN network's investigative news unit. He ha ...
and
James Risen James Risen (born April 27, 1955) is an American journalist for ''The Intercept''. He previously worked for ''The New York Times'' and before that for ''Los Angeles Times''. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S. government ...
wrote about the Treasury's participation in disrupting terrorist financing following the Bush administration's signing of which invoked the President's
International Emergency Economic Powers Act The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary t ...
authorities against suspected terrorists. The article described the Treasury's Terrorist Finance Tracking Program in which it worked with two Intelligence Community members (the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
and
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
) to obtain and exploit data from
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...
. Responding to the article, Treasury Under Secretary for TFI
Stuart Levey Stuart A. Levey was the first Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the United States Department of the Treasury. He was sworn in on July 21, 2004 as a political appointee of President George W. Bush. President Barack O ...
acknowledged the existence of the program and defended the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program as both legal and effective. The article noted claims that the data had been crucial to the capture of
Riduan Isamuddin Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman (April 4, 1964) is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist org ...
. Subsequent to the exposure of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, the
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the United States government, established by Congress in 2004 to advise the President and other senior executive branch officials to en ...
(PCLOB) staff wrote a memorandum summarizing the issues raised and provided a list of questions about the program to the Board. On November 26, 2006 the PCLOB sat through a briefing about the OIA's role Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, including the OIA's analysis of the SWIFT data obtained through
administrative subpoena An administrative subpoena under U.S. law is a subpoena issued by a federal agency without prior judicial oversight. Critics say that administrative subpoena authority is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, whil ...
. In 2006 testimony to the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Assistant Secretary for OIA Janice Gardner stated that OIA initiated weekly targeting sessions, led by TFI Undersecretary
Stuart A. Levey Stuart A. Levey was the first Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the United States Department of the Treasury. He was sworn in on July 21, 2004 as a political appointee of President George W. Bush. President Barack O ...
and including officials from OIA,
OFAC The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy o ...
, and
FinCEN The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terr ...
and produced written assessments of possible foreign terrorist financing through
non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
. The same remarks credited OIA for authorship of 50 of its own cables, and its participation in the drafting and coordination of the National Intelligence Estimates and
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
studies. In the
Global War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...
, OIA led the establishment of the Iraq Threat Finance Cells blending intelligence, military and law enforcement personnel to help identify and interdict funding streams to terrorist and insurgent networks. The model was later reproduced with the
Afghan Threat Finance Cell The Afghan Threat Finance Cell was a multi-agency intelligence organization in Afghanistan. The organization was created in 2008. The United States' Drug Enforcement Administration was the lead agency in the organization. The co-deputy agencies ...
. A December 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of Treasury counternarcotics activities found that
Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
uses OIA-produced assessments before and after the designation of individuals for sanctions under the Kingpin Act. A March 2020 GAO study of sanctions programs estimated that OIA personnel devote "approximately half of their time" to work on sanctions implementation.


Performance measures

Though OIA is an intelligence agency, it is nevertheless subject to the Government Performance and Results Act and required to identify "key factors external to the agency and beyond its control that could significantly affect the achievement of the general goals and objectives." In 2022, the TFI reports one performance highlight related to the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, "customer satisfaction with OIA products," in its Budget-in-Brief for Fiscal Year 2023.


References


External links

* * - Office of Intelligence and Analysis Intelligence and Analysis (Treasury Department) Intelligence analysis agencies {{US-gov-stub