Washington, D.C. — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is threatening to prosecute nonprofit leaders and seize their organizations’ assets. The right-wing dark money outfit Capital Research Center is cheering him on. And the Justice Department has quietly assigned prosecutors who built their careers on gang and terrorism cases to go after political protesters instead. None of this is a coincidence, and none of it is about following the law.
Scott Bessent Threatens Prosecution and Asset Seizures for “Leftist” Nonprofits
In a friendly interview with a right-wing outlet, Bessent said nonprofit leaders who cross the administration could face criminal charges and have their organizations’ assets frozen. He said Treasury is compiling a list of large 501(c)(3) groups with affiliated 501(c)(4)s to scrutinize how money moves between them, and that his team will be tracking donors.
This is the same administration that has engaged in a whole-of-government effort to target the Southern Poverty Law Center because they’ve called out hate groups aligned with the Republican Party. This government is directing federal agencies to treat opposition to its immigration and social policies as a warning sign of political violence. Handing Treasury the power to freeze a nonprofit’s assets on its own say-so, backed by vague talk of tracking “concentric circles” of donors, is just another way to punish groups over their politics.
Capital Research Center Cheers On Treasury’s Nonprofit Crackdown
Capital Research Center, the right-wing disinformation outlet that feeds the White House and Congressional Republicans their talking points on nonprofits and civil society organizations, published a post cheering on Treasury’s coming Form 990 changes and pushing to expand them to cover 501(c)(4)s as well.
CRC’s post leaves out the context that matters: this push is unfolding alongside criminal-prosecution and asset-seizure threats against nonprofit leaders, and a Justice Department task force built to go after political opponents. Coming from CRC, a call for “more disclosure” is just a call for the Trump administration to use more of their “research” to prosecute groups they oppose.
DOJ Sics Gang and Terrorism Prosecutors on Political Protesters
The Justice Department has assigned two federal prosecutors with backgrounds in racketeering and terrorism cases to lead a new unit specifically built to carry out a White House directive treating anti-administration activism as a national security threat. One of the two prosecutors spent years writing for a conservative blog, and the task force has already brought conspiracy charges against anti-ICE demonstrators in Minneapolis and revived a previously thrown out Georgia case against protesters.
The DOJ deploying tools built for organized crime and terrorism against demonstrators is about one thing: making protest as costly and dangerous as possible for anyone who opposes this administration.
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