House Republicans Call For Treasury to Reveal Bank Records for Campus Palestine Protest Groups

Last updated on August 7th, 2024 at 04:29 pm

House Republicans are pressing the U.S. Treasury Department to reveal the funding activity behind groups organizing college campus protests against the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday, indicating they are actively investigating the sources of funding and financing for groups they contend are organizing “pro-Hamas, antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American protests” including “illegal encampments” on college campuses.

“This investigation relates both to malign influence on college campuses and to the national security implications of such influence on faculty and student organizations,” the two Republican House committee chairs added in their letter.

The Republican lawmakers called on Yellen to turn over any suspicious activity reports (SARs) associated with 20 different groups involved in organizing campus protest events critical of the ongoing war and of the Israeli state. Those groups include:

1. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP);
2. Jewish Voice for Peace;
3. Within Our Lifetime;
4. American Muslims for Palestine (AMP);
5. IfNotNow;
6. Open Society Foundations;
7. Rockefeller Brothers Fund;
8. Tides Foundation;
9. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
10. Solidaire Action;
11. Libra Foundation;
12. Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation;
13. Muslim Community Network;
14. Council on American-Islamic Relations;
15. Center for Popular Democracy;
16. Peace Action New York State;
17. People’s Forum;
18. Samidoun;
19. Adalah Justice Project;
20. Palestine Legal.

Banks are required to file SARs with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) whenever they suspect fraudulent financial activity among their account holders. The generation of a SAR does not necessarily mean a crime has occurred but may alert financial investigators to fraud or criminal money laundering activities.

Comer and Foxx have demanded the Treasury Department turn over any SARs that may exist for these 20 organizations by May 28 at the latest.

“The antisemitic and illegal protest encampments occupying colleges across the country are disturbing and appear to be anything but organic. Reports now indicate multiple leftist organizations are leading efforts to fund and encourage these hateful and unlawful encampments,” Comer said Tuesday.

Foxx said “antisemitic mobs began springing up at college campuses across the country” the day after the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7; a claim she says is indicative of advanced coordination and outside influence. She said this poses and even more dire situation for U.S. educational institutions.

“American education is under attack. It’s critical that Congress investigates how these groups—who are tearing apart our institutions—are being funded and advised before it’s too late,” Foxx said.

For months, Foxx has led House hearings over the protests taking place on college campuses, and allegations of antisemitism stemming from these events.

The Treasury Department has not responded to a FreeBase News request for comment on this records request from Congressional Republicans.

The letter from Comer and Foxx comes just days after a group of 16 Republican Senators called on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel to investigate the tax-exempt status of several groups involved in the recent campus protests, including SJP, AMP, the Tides Foundation, and the Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation. That letter posited that certain protest groups have provided measurable support for terrorism through their events and could therefore lose their preferential tax statuses.